''Samhain'' was an Irish

theatrical Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communic ...

periodical Periodical literature (singularly called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) consists of Publication, published works that appear in new releases on a regular schedule (''issues'' or ''numbers'', often numerically divided into annu ...

published irregularly, with an

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook **Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), a ...

in December. The Irish poet

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...

was a regular and leading contributor of

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

s outlining his artistic principles. It existed between 1901 and 1908.

History and profile

''Samhain'' was established in 1901. Publication began in October 1901, superseding ''Beltaine'', an occasional theatre review and publication of the

Irish Literary Theatre The Irish Literary Theatre was a short-lived theatrical project that existed from 1899 to 1901. Its purpose was to establish a national stage for Irish plays performed by Irish performers to amplify the Irish cultural identity (apart from Great B ...

named for the ancient Irish festival

Bealtaine Beltane () or ''Bealtaine'' () is the Gaelic May Day festival, marking the beginning of summer. It is traditionally held on 1 May, or about midway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Historically, it was widely observed in Ireland ...

. The

published ''Samhain''.Horatio Sheafe Krans. ''William Butler Yeats and the Irish Literary Revival'', W. Heinemann, 1905
Pg. 185
It has been noted that the two periodicals "constitute at once a history and a running critical commentary … of the origin and growth of the dramatic activity in Ireland." In the first issue of ''Samhain'', Yeats explained the name change as referring to "the old name for the beginning of winter, because our

plays Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

this year are in October, and because our Theatre is coming to an end in its present shape." ''Samhain'' also published the texts of new plays for a time, but later these were printed in book form as ''The

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre (), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland () is a theatre in Dublin, Ireland. First opening to the public on 27 December 1904, and moved from its original building after a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the p ...

Series''. It supported the

poetic drama Verse drama is any drama written significantly in verse (that is: with line endings) to be performed by an actor before an audience. Although verse drama does not need to be ''primarily'' in verse to be considered verse drama, significant porti ...

. The magazine was published in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

by Sealy, Bryers & Walker, and in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

by T. Fisher Unwin. In 1908 ''Samhain'' ceased publication.

Sources

* ''The Collected Letters of W.B. Yeats''. Edited by John Kelly and Ronald Schuchard. Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 15, 978, ''et passim''.

External links

''Samhain'', 1901
at riomhÉire.ie
''Samhain'', 1902
at riomhÉire.ie
''Samhain'', November 1905
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

Abbey Theatre Defunct literary magazines published in Europe Defunct magazines published in Ireland Literary magazines published in Ireland Irregularly published magazines Magazines established in 1901 Magazines disestablished in 1908 Magazines published in Dublin (city) Theatre in Ireland Defunct theatre magazines Works by W. B. Yeats Poetry literary magazines {{Ireland-lit-mag-stub