Mary O'Malley (director)

Mary O'Malley (1918 Mallow, County Cork - 22 April 2006) was an Irish theatre director, the founder of Belfast’s Lyric Players Theatre.

Life

At the age of thirteen, whilst stopping off in Dublin, on the way to begin her first year at Loreto Convent, Navan, she attended the Abbey Theatre. Later that year O’Malley would write and direct her first play, The Lost Princess.

After she had finished at Loreto Convent, Mary moved with her mother to live near Gerard in Dublin. In her spare time she would attend productions at the Abbey and Peacock theatres and quickly became immersed in Dublin’s social and theatrical scenes, becoming a key member of the New Theatre Group, and joining countless societies such as the Irish Society for Intellectual Freedom.

On 14 September 1947, Mary was married to Pearse O’Malley at University Church, Dublin.

In 1952, she ran for office as Irish Labour Party councillor for Smithfield, the only female in the running. On 21 May, she won.

In 1959, she founded Threshold literary magazine.^[1][2]

She started Belfast’s Lyric Players Theatre, in her barn. A self-taught and tireless director, she fought against a tide of cultural populism and indifference, in the north during the 50s, 60s and 70s to pioneer the new theatre.^[3] As their repertoire grew, O’Malley felt it necessary to provide a permanent theatre for the company, and in the 60s the Lyric Players Theatre became a non-profit association and in 1968, moved to Ridgeway Street.^[4][5]

In 1976, she retired in Wicklow.^[6]

The Lyric Players Theatre archives are held at NUI Galway.^[7]

References

1. ^ Frank Shovlin (2003). The Irish literary periodical, 1923-1958. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199267392. http://books.google.com/books?id=ndz6JXR0KZUC&pg=PA180&lpg=PA180&dq=Mary+O'Malley+playwright&source=bl&ots=7rjm0qhKIS&sig=C-NvhfSiff6jvi4JAVX7DWK5FQ0&hl=en&ei=FQgYSt-9FajhtgfAkI3rDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7. 
2. ^ http://www.lyrictheatre.co.uk/lyriclives/help_us_with_our_collection.php
3. ^ Ulick O'Connor (7 May 2006). "Mary O'Malley". http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/features/mary-omalley-129895.html. 
4. ^ Christopher Murray (1997). Twentieth-century Irish drama. Manchester University Press ND. ISBN 9780719041570. http://books.google.com/books?id=0vG8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA189&lpg=PA189&dq=Mary+O'Malley+playwright&source=bl&ots=OKTZk9rYGL&sig=dgvxc82_RhnEC5plLdrX711teXU&hl=en&ei=HBYYSo3gCsmrtgeyzvX-DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1. 
5. ^ http://www.lyrictheatre.co.uk/lyriclives/banked_memories.php
6. ^ Lee Henry. "Mary O'Malley Changed the NI Stage". Audiences of Northern Ireland. http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/article.aspx?art_id=1668. 
7. ^ http://irishliterature.library.emory.edu/content.php?id=lyrictheatre_10198

External links

• "The Lyrical Mary O'Malley", Fortnight, Seamus McKee, No. 11 (Feb. 19, 1971), pp. 22-23
• Mary Manning (May 1972). "A Visit to Belfast". The Atlantic Monthly. http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/72may/manning.htm. 

Persondata
Name	Omalley, Mary
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1918
Place of birth
Date of death	2002
Place of death