St John Greer Ervine (28 December 1883 – 24 January 1971) was an Irish biographer, novelist, critic, dramatist, and theatre manager. He was the most prominent Ulster writer of the early twentieth century and a major Irish dramatist whose work influenced the plays of

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 ...

and

Sean O'Casey Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Hiberno-English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; angli ...

. ''The Wayward Man'' was among the first novels to explore the character, and conflicts, of Belfast.

Biography

Ervine was born as John Greer Irvine in

Ballymacarrett Ballymacarrett or Ballymacarret () is the name of both a townland and electoral ward in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The townland is in the civil parish of Knockbreda (civil parish), Knockbreda in the historic barony (Ireland), barony of Castler ...

in east Belfast, in the shadow of the shipyards, to deaf-mute parents. Every member of his family had been born in County Down for 300 years. His father, a printer, died soon after his birth and the family moved in with Ervine's grandmother who ran a small shop. Ervine became an insurance clerk in a Belfast office at the age of 17 and shortly after he moved to London. In London Ervine met

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

and began to write journalism as well as his first plays, adopting the name St John Ervine "as more fitting for his ambitions". His first full-length play, ''Mixed Marriage'', was produced by Dublin's

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 ...

in 1911. It had several runs as one of the Abbey's most profitable plays. Yeats praised Ervine's plays for depicting the real life experienced by the people of the north of Ireland as Synge's work had done for those of the west of Ireland. In June 1913, Ervine was standing beside

Emily Davison Emily Wilding Davison (11 October 1872 – 8 June 1913) was an English suffragette who fought for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, votes for women in Britain in the early twentieth century. A member of the Women's Social and Polit ...

at The Derby and witnessed her being fatally injured by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

's horse. In 1915 Yeats appointed Ervine as the Abbey's general manager. Ervine's tenure was a commercial success. The production of several successful comedies restored the theatre's finances. But Ervine's demands on the actors, combined with his outrage at the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...

of 1916, led to open conflict. Ervine resigned from the Abbey in 1916 and enlisted in the

Household Battalion The Household Battalion was an infantry battalion of the British army during the Great War. It was formed in September 1916 from the reserves of the Household Cavalry regiments (the 1st Life Guards, 2nd Life Guards and the Royal Horse Guards) to ...

. On 1 January 1917 he was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in the second reserve of the

Royal Dublin Fusiliers The Royal Dublin Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army created in 1881 and disbanded in 1922. It was one of eight 'Irish' regiments of the army which were raised and garrisoned in Ireland, with the regiment's home depot being l ...

, and was transferred to a regular battalion on 1 August 1917. After being wounded in Flanders one of his legs had to be amputated. He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 February 1919 and relinquished his commission due to his wounds on 5 December 1919. Through the 1920s and 1930s Ervine wrote drawing-room comedies that were box-office successes. Several had West End runs of up to two years, among them ''Anthony and Anna'' (1926) and '' The First Mrs. Fraser'' (1929). In 1936 Ervine's ''Boyd's Shop'', "the play that defined Northern Irish drama for decades", was produced. Arnold Bennett hailed him as a playwright "unequalled" in England, with plays that "combined great skill, fine ideals, and perfect sincerity with immense popular success". From 1919 to 1939 Ervine was also a theatre reviewer for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

''. Alongside his plays Ervine wrote a number of novels. Of these the most successful, ''The Wayward Man'' (1927), was reprinted in 1936 as one of

Allen Lane Sir Allen Lane (born Allen Lane Williams; 21 September 1902 – 7 July 1970) was a British publisher who together with his brothers Richard and John Lane founded Penguin Books in 1935, bringing high-quality paperback fiction and non-fictio ...

's first Penguin paperbacks (Penguin 32). He also produced several major biographies, including of the Unionist leaders

Craigavon Craigavon ( ) is a town in north County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was a planned settlement, begun in 1965, and named after the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland: James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon. It was intended to be the heart of ...

and Carson, of

William Booth William Booth (10 April 1829 – 20 August 1912) was an English Methodist preacher who, along with his wife, Catherine, founded the Salvation Army and became its first General (1878–1912). This Christian movement, founded in 1865, has a qu ...

, of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

and of

. ''Bernard Shaw: His Life, Work, and Friends'' (1956) was awarded the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Un ...

in 1956. Explaining the determination of his character Robert "Darkie" Dunwoody in his novel, ''The Wayward Man'', to leave the city despite the ties that bind him, Ervine wrote "I have never met anyone who was not depressed by Belfast".

Sean O'Faolain Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Hiberno-English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; angli ...

accounted Ervine "the only Belfast writer who has tried at all to bottle the 'realism' of the city". He suggested, however, that, "lacking poetry", Ervine "only succeeded in making it taste like reboiled mutton gone cold". As "part of what might be called a programme for the reinstatement of certain neglected Northern Irish novelists", ''The Wayward Man'' was republished in 2014. Patricia Craig proposes that it is an exemplar of "a kind of Edwardian realism nurtured in the shade of

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist, who wrote prolifically. Between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaborati ...

and

John Galsworthy John Galsworthy (; 14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. He is best known for his trilogy of novels collectively called '' The Forsyte Saga'', and two later trilogies, ''A Modern Comedy'' and ''End of th ...

, and embodying a distinctive Ulster Protestant strain". By the 1940s St John Ervine was Northern Ireland's leading writer but also a controversial figure with “a remarkable antipathy to southern Ireland".

Personal life

In 1911 Ervine married Leonora Mary Davis (d. 1965), a teacher, actress and playwright from Birmingham. They settled in Seaton, Devon in the 1940s. Ervine died on 24 January 1971 in Fitzhall,

Iping Iping is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Stedham with Iping, in the Chichester (district), Chichester Districts of England, district of West Sussex, England. It lies just off the A272 road west of Midhurst, on the River ...

, Sussex.

Selected plays

*''Mixed Marriage'' (1910) *''The Magnanimous Lover'' (1912) *''The Critics'' (1913) *''Jane Clegg'' (1913) *''The Orangeman'' (1914) *''John Ferguson'' (1915) *''The Island of Saints and How to Get Out of It'' (1920) *''The Ship'' (1922) *''The Lady of Belmont'' (1924), a sequel to ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a ...

''. *''The First Mrs. Fraser'' (1929) *''Boyd's Shop'' (1936) *''William John Mawhinny'' (1940) *''Friends and Relations'' (1941) *''My Brother Tom'' (1952) *''Ballyfarland's Festival'' (1953) *''Martha'' (1955) A contemporary production of ''Mixed Marriage'' played at the

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world p ...

in London from 4 to 29 October 2011, to critical acclaim.

Novels

* ''The Tailor of Charing Cross'' (1912) * ''Mrs Martin's Man'' (1914) * ''Alice and a Family'' (1915) * ''Changing Winds'' (1917) * ''The Foolish Lovers'' (1920) *''The Wayward Man'' (1927) (2014, Turnpike Books, Dublin. )

References

External links

St. John Greer Ervine Collection
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, is an archive, library, and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe ...