''Making History'' is a
play written by
Irish playwright
Brian Friel
Brian Patrick Friel (c. 9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. He had been considered one of the greatest living English-language dramatists. (subscription req ...
in 1988, premiered at the
Guildhall, Derry
The Guildhall in Derry, Northern Ireland, is a guildhall in which the elected members of Derry City and Strabane District Council meet. It is a Grade A listed building.
History
The current building was preceded by an earlier town hall called ...
on 20 September 1988. It focuses on the real-life plight of
Aodh Mór Ó Néill,
Earl of Tyrone, who led an Irish and Spanish alliance against the English in an attempt to drive them out of Ireland. The play is set before and after the
Battle of Kinsale. The battle does not directly feature in the play, although it is central to the plot.
The play's other main theme is O'Neill's unexpected third marriage to the much younger, English-born
Mabel Bagenal
Mabel Bagenal ( – December 1595) was an Anglo-Irish noblewoman and Countess of Tyrone, often referred to simplistically as the " Helen of the Elizabethan Wars".
Life
Mabel Bagenal was born around 1571 in Newry. She was the youngest child of ...
, daughter and sister of two of his most implacable enemies, which the play presents as a genuine though ill-fated love marriage.
[Peacock, Alan J. ''The Achievement of Brian Friel'' Rowman and Littlefield 1993]
Characters
*
Hugh O'Neill, the second Earl of Tyrone
*
Hugh O'Donnell, a younger Earl of Tyrconnel
*Harry Hoveden, private secretary to O'Neill
*
Peter Lombard
Peter Lombard (also Peter the Lombard, Pierre Lombard or Petrus Lombardus; 1096, Novara – 21/22 July 1160, Paris), was a scholastic theologian, Bishop of Paris, and author of ''Four Books of Sentences'' which became the standard textbook of ...
, Catholic
Archbishop of Armagh
*Mabel Bagenal, third wife of the O'Neill and daughter of
Nicholas Bagenal
*Mary Bagenal (later Mary Barnewall), her sister
References
1988 plays
Plays based on actual events
Plays by Brian Friel
{{1980s-play-stub