Padraic Fallon (3 January 1905 â€" 9 October 1974) was an Irish poet
and playwright.Fallon was born and raised in Athenry, County Galway;
his upbringing and his early impressions of the town and the
surrounding landscape are intimately described in his poetry. After
passing the civil service exams in 1923 he moved to Dublin to work in
the Customs House. In Dublin he became part of the circle of George
William Russell (Æ) who encouraged his literary ambitions and
arranged for the publication of his early poetry. He formed close
friendships with Seumas O'Sullivan, editor of The Dublin Magazine, the
poets Austin Clarke, Robert Farren, F.R. Higgins and Patrick McDonagh,
and later the novelist James Plunkett. In 1939, Fallon left Dublin to
serve as a Customs official in County Wexford, living in Prospect
House, near Wexford Town with his wife, Dorothea (née Maher) and his
six sons. During this time he became a close friend of the painter
Tony O'Malley. Fallon retired from the Civil Service in 1963,
returning to Dublin before moving to Cornwall in 1967 to live with his
son, the sculptor Conor Fallon and his daughter-in-law, the artist
Nancy Wynne-Jones. He and his wife returned to Ireland in 1971. He
spent his last years in Kinsale. He was visiting his son Ivan Fallon
in Kent at the time of his death.[1]Fallon's early poetry, short
stories and literary criticism were published in The Dublin Magazine
and The Bell. Fallon was a regular contributor to Radio Éireann in
the 1940s and 1950s, serving variously as a journalist, scriptwriter
and literary critic. A number of his short stories and early dramatic
pieces were broadcast by the station during the 1940s. The first of
Fallon's verse plays for radio, Diarmuid and Gráinne, was broadcast
by Radio Éireann in November 1950. This was followed by The Vision of
Mac Conglinne (1953), Two Men with a Face (1953), The Poplar (1953),
Steeple Jerkin (1954), The Wooing of Étain (1954), A Man in the
Window (1955), Outpost (1955), Deirdre's King (1956), The Five
Stations (1957), The Hags of Clough (1957), The Third Bachelor (1958),
At the Bridge Inn (1960) and Lighting up Time (1961). Three plays
adapted from Irish mythology, Diarmuid and Gráinne, The Vision of Mac
Conglinne and Deirdre's King, received particular contemporary
critical acclaim. The landscape, mythology and history of Ireland,
interwoven with classical themes and religious symbolism, are frequent
themes in his poetry and dramatic works. A number of his radio plays
were later broadcast on The BBC Third Programme and, in translation,
in Germany, the Netherlands, and Hungary. The play The Seventh Step
was staged at The Globe Theatre in Dublin in 1954; a second one, Sweet
Love 'till Morn, was staged at the Abbey Theatre in 1971. Fallon also
wrote dramatic pieces for television such as A Sword of Steel (1966)
and The Fenians (1967), the latter produced by James Plunkett. In a
number of his plays and radio dramas he cooperated with contemporary
composers providing incidental music, an example being The Wooing of
Étain (1954) with music by Brian Boydell (The Wooing of Étain, Op.
37).[2]While his poetry had previously appeared in The Dublin
Magazine, The Bell, The Irish Times and a number of anthologies, his
first volume of collected poetry, Poems, incorporating a number of
previously unpublished poems, was not produced until 1974, months
before his death. Three volumes of his poetry, edited by his son, the
journalist and critic Brian Fallon, were published after his death:
Poems and Versions in 1983, Collected Poems (with an introduction by
Seamus Heaney), in 1990, and A Look in the Mirror and Other Poems
(with an introduction by Eavan Boland) in 2003. In 2005, three of
Fallon's verse plays, The Vision of Mac Conglinne, The Poplar , and
The Hags of Clough, were published in a single volume. A selection of
his prose writings and criticism edited by Brian Fallon: A Poet's
Journal, was published in the same year.
and playwright.Fallon was born and raised in Athenry, County Galway;
his upbringing and his early impressions of the town and the
surrounding landscape are intimately described in his poetry. After
passing the civil service exams in 1923 he moved to Dublin to work in
the Customs House. In Dublin he became part of the circle of George
William Russell (Æ) who encouraged his literary ambitions and
arranged for the publication of his early poetry. He formed close
friendships with Seumas O'Sullivan, editor of The Dublin Magazine, the
poets Austin Clarke, Robert Farren, F.R. Higgins and Patrick McDonagh,
and later the novelist James Plunkett. In 1939, Fallon left Dublin to
serve as a Customs official in County Wexford, living in Prospect
House, near Wexford Town with his wife, Dorothea (née Maher) and his
six sons. During this time he became a close friend of the painter
Tony O'Malley. Fallon retired from the Civil Service in 1963,
returning to Dublin before moving to Cornwall in 1967 to live with his
son, the sculptor Conor Fallon and his daughter-in-law, the artist
Nancy Wynne-Jones. He and his wife returned to Ireland in 1971. He
spent his last years in Kinsale. He was visiting his son Ivan Fallon
in Kent at the time of his death.[1]Fallon's early poetry, short
stories and literary criticism were published in The Dublin Magazine
and The Bell. Fallon was a regular contributor to Radio Éireann in
the 1940s and 1950s, serving variously as a journalist, scriptwriter
and literary critic. A number of his short stories and early dramatic
pieces were broadcast by the station during the 1940s. The first of
Fallon's verse plays for radio, Diarmuid and Gráinne, was broadcast
by Radio Éireann in November 1950. This was followed by The Vision of
Mac Conglinne (1953), Two Men with a Face (1953), The Poplar (1953),
Steeple Jerkin (1954), The Wooing of Étain (1954), A Man in the
Window (1955), Outpost (1955), Deirdre's King (1956), The Five
Stations (1957), The Hags of Clough (1957), The Third Bachelor (1958),
At the Bridge Inn (1960) and Lighting up Time (1961). Three plays
adapted from Irish mythology, Diarmuid and Gráinne, The Vision of Mac
Conglinne and Deirdre's King, received particular contemporary
critical acclaim. The landscape, mythology and history of Ireland,
interwoven with classical themes and religious symbolism, are frequent
themes in his poetry and dramatic works. A number of his radio plays
were later broadcast on The BBC Third Programme and, in translation,
in Germany, the Netherlands, and Hungary. The play The Seventh Step
was staged at The Globe Theatre in Dublin in 1954; a second one, Sweet
Love 'till Morn, was staged at the Abbey Theatre in 1971. Fallon also
wrote dramatic pieces for television such as A Sword of Steel (1966)
and The Fenians (1967), the latter produced by James Plunkett. In a
number of his plays and radio dramas he cooperated with contemporary
composers providing incidental music, an example being The Wooing of
Étain (1954) with music by Brian Boydell (The Wooing of Étain, Op.
37).[2]While his poetry had previously appeared in The Dublin
Magazine, The Bell, The Irish Times and a number of anthologies, his
first volume of collected poetry, Poems, incorporating a number of
previously unpublished poems, was not produced until 1974, months
before his death. Three volumes of his poetry, edited by his son, the
journalist and critic Brian Fallon, were published after his death:
Poems and Versions in 1983, Collected Poems (with an introduction by
Seamus Heaney), in 1990, and A Look in the Mirror and Other Poems
(with an introduction by Eavan Boland) in 2003. In 2005, three of
Fallon's verse plays, The Vision of Mac Conglinne, The Poplar , and
The Hags of Clough, were published in a single volume. A selection of
his prose writings and criticism edited by Brian Fallon: A Poet's
Journal, was published in the same year.
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