The Legends of Ulster

The Legends of Ulster is a series of stories by Stranorlar writer Frances Browne, which were published between 1849 and 1851 by Tait’s Edinburgh Magazine. The stories featured in this Balor Rep production are all set in Donegal, in the period before and after the United Irishmen’s Rebellion of 1798. They follow the adventures of landlords and their tenants, mysterious strangers, romance across the religious divide as well as dark deeds avenged by visitors from the spirit world. The stories are told in Browne’s own version of the English spoken in Ulster, which is heavily influenced by both Gaelic and Ulster Scots, as well as Standard English.

Tonight’s presentation features four such stories from the Legends series which have been adapted for stage by Shirley Anne Bonner – O’Cleery’s Tenant Right (set in Dungloe), The Unlucky Birthnight (set in Barnesmore Gap), The Wreckers of Fannet (set in Fanad) and O’Donnell’s Penance (set in Donegal Town).

The production has been commissioned as part of the inaugural Frances Browne Literary Festival. See more at www.francesbrowneliteraryfestival.com

Shirley Anne Bonner is a writer and academic, originally from Stranorlar, now living in Galway. A Ph.D. candidate at the O’Donoghue Centre for Drama at NUI Galway, she is also holder of a Government of Ireland Research Council Scholarship, developing theatre practices to recover the legacies of marginalized Irish women writers, among them Lady Gregory and Frances Browne. Her play on the life and times of Frances Browne, ‘In My Mind Eye’, will have a rehearsed reading in An Grianán Theatre on Saturday, October 9.