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Biography of Padraic ColumName: Padraic ColumBirth Date: 1881 Death Date: January 11, 1972 Place of Birth: County Longford, Ireland Nationality: American Gender: Male Occupations: poet, author, playwright Padraic Colum The Irish-American author Padraic Colum (1881-1972), best known for his poetry and plays, was active in the Irish Literary Revival.Padraic Colum was born in County Longford and as a youth met many who had lived through the Great Famine, which ravaged Ireland in the mid-19th century. His father was master of the workhouse (home for the destitute), and thus Padraic saw much of the poverty and land hunger of the people. His uncle was a poultry dealer, and the young Colum traveled with him to fairs and markets. There he met the wandering people of the roads, ballad singers, and storytellers and found inspiration for some of the poems which have become part of Ireland's literary heritage. "She Moves through the Fair" and "The Old Woman of the Roads" are among his numerous simple lyrics which have often been anthologized.Colum became deeply interested in poetry and theater, and …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…of Irish Folklore (1954). Colum was always interested in other cultures, from those of classical Greece and Rome to that of the South Sea Islands, which he visited at the age of 86.After his wife's death in 1957, Colum published the long, semiautobiographical novel The Flying Swans, a saga of life in Ireland before the turn of the century. Colum's unfailing kindness in encouraging new poets and writers of talent perhaps contributed to his vitality and the continuing freshness of his ideas throughout his life. He died at Enfield, Conn., on Jan. 11, 1972. Further Reading A comprehensive biographical and critical study of Colum is Zack Bowen, Padraic Colum (1970). The autobiography of his wife, Mary Colum, Life and the Dream: Memories of a Literary Life in Europe and America (1947; rev. ed. 1966), contains information about their life together. Ernest A. Boyd, The Contemporary Drama of Ireland (1917), discusses Colum's early career as an Irish folk dramatist. |