Sean O'Casey.

Raised in poverty, O’Casey claimed he was educated on the streets of Dublin and did not learn to read and write until he was 14. Born John Casey on March 30, 1880 in a working-class district of Dublin, Ireland, this late start did not hinder his literary ambitions. He later worked as an itinerant laborer well into his 40s, gathering experiences that would shape his dramas.

O’Casey’s breakthrough came with Juno and the Paycock in 1924, a tragicomedy set during the Irish Civil War that quickly gained him international attention. The play was adapted into a 1930 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. In 1926, The Plough and the Stars premiered at the Abbey Theatre, sparking violent protests from audience members who felt O’Casey’s characters ridiculed the Irish. Despite the controversy, the play established him as a major voice in Irish theatre and was later made into a 1936 film. O’Casey also worked as a soundtrack artist, contributing to adaptations of his works.

O’Casey married Eileen Reynolds, and the couple had one son, Breon O’Casey, who became a noted artist and sculptor. After the intense backlash to his plays in Dublin, O’Casey lived in self-imposed exile in England for nearly 40 years, settling in Torquay, Devon. He often wrote about Ireland’s social and political struggles.

O’Casey’s works are central to Irish theatre, with Juno and the Paycock and The Plough and the Stars regularly revived worldwide. He was awarded the Hawthornden Prize and received a star on the Playwrights’ Sidewalk in New York. His unflinching portrayal of Irish life influenced later playwrights and remains a touchstone for debates on art and nationalism. O’Casey turned the Irish stage into a mirror of its society’s raw realities.