Hibernia Freed | |
---|---|
Written by | William Phillips |
Date premiered | 13 February 1722 [1] |
Place premiered | Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre |
Original language | English |
Genre | Tragedy |
Hibernia Freed is a 1722 tragedy by the writer William Phillips. It is set during the ninth century during the Viking Invasion of Ireland. It was part of a growing Anglo-Irish interest in traditional Irish history, and part of a tendency to switch tragedy from Ancient Rome or Greece to more native settings. [2]
It has similarities with Charles Shadwell's Rotherick O'Connor, King of Connaught (1719) but whereas that was a Whig-supporting play, Phillips was a Tory with Jacobite leanings. [3] Shadwell portrayed the Norman Invasion of Ireland in a positive light, drawing parallels to William III's more recent victory there while Phillips portrays the Irish justly defending their country against Viking tyranny. [4] He dedicated the play to Henry O'Brien, Earl of Thomond an Irish aristocrat of Gaelic background. [5]
The original Lincoln Inn's Field cast consisted of Anthony Boheme as O'Brien, Lacy Ryan as O'Neill, Charles Hulet as Herimon, John Egleton as O'Connor, Thomas Rogers as Eugenius, James Quin as Tergesius, Thomas Walker as Erric, Anna Maria Seymour as Sabina, Jane Rogers as Agnes.
Besieged on the Hill of Tara by the invading Viking king Tergesius, the King of Ireland O'Brien waits for help from the Ulster leader O'Neill.
Monarchical systems of government have existed in Ireland from ancient times. In most of Ireland, this continued until 1949, when it transitioned to being the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom, remains under a monarchical system of government.
Charles Shadwell was an English playwright of the 18th century, date of birth unknown, dead in 1726. He was the son of Thomas Shadwell, the playwright and Poet Laureate.
Thomond, also known as the kingdom of Limerick, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Clare and County Limerick, as well as parts of County Tipperary around Nenagh and its hinterland. The kingdom represented the core homeland of the Dál gCais people, although there were other Gaels in the area such as the Éile and Eóganachta, and even the Norse of Limerick. It existed from the collapse of the Kingdom of Munster in the 12th century as competition between the Ó Briain and the Mac Cárthaigh led to the schism between Thomond and Desmond. It continued to exist outside of the Anglo-Norman-controlled Lordship of Ireland until the 16th century.
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