James Shirley

Saint Patrick for Ireland James Shirley

"Saint Patrick for Ireland," first published in 1640, is notable as an early development in Irish theatre. The play was written and performed during Shirley's stay in Dublin in the years 1637-40. Shirley, one of the most prominent and successful London playwrights of the previous decade, moved to Dublin during the long closure of the London theatres, from May 1636 to October 1637, due to an epidemic of bubonic plague. It was performed in the autumn of 1639, at the Werburgh Street Theatre in Dublin, "the first Irish playhouse."