Lady Gregory as Cathleen ni Houlihan
Augusta Gregory (1852–1932)
Typed journal entry
March 1919
When the Abbey Theatre revived Cathleen ni Houlihan in March 1919, Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh (Mary Walker), cast in the title role, could not appear. Gregory offered to replace her, noting in her diary, “after all what is wanted but a hag and a voice?” She had two brief rehearsals before nervously stepping on stage. “[M]y face was painted with grease paint—white with black under the eyes and red inside the lids—dreadful!” She received two curtain calls that night and also on the following night, when Yeats attended with Iseult Gonne and Maud Gonne, who had originated the role in 1902. But Gregory noted that Yeats “said coldly it was ‘very nice, but if I had rehearsed you it would have been much better.’”
: Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
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