Teresa Deevy facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Teresa Deevy
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| Born | 21 January 1894 Waterford, Ireland |
| Died | 19 January 1963 (aged 68) Waterford, Ireland |
| Pen name | D.V. Goode |
| Alma mater | University College Dublin University College Cork |
| Literary movement | Irish Literary Revival, expressionism |
| Years active | 1930–48 |
| Notable works | Katie Roche, Wife to James Whelan, Temporal Powers |
Teresa Deevy (born January 21, 1894 – died January 19, 1963) was an important Irish writer. She wrote many plays for the theatre, but also wrote short stories and radio shows. Teresa became deaf when she was 19 years old.
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Teresa Deevy's Early Life
Teresa Deevy was born in Waterford, Ireland, on January 21, 1894. She was the youngest of 13 children, and all of them were girls! Her mother was Mary Feehan Deevy. Her father, Edward Deevy, passed away when Teresa was only two years old.
Teresa went to the Ursuline Convent in Waterford for school. In 1913, when she was 19, she started studying at University College Dublin. She wanted to become a teacher. However, that same year, Teresa became deaf because of a condition called Ménière's disease. She then moved to University College Cork to get treatment at a special hospital there. This also meant she was closer to her family. In 1914, she went to London to learn how to lip-read. She came back to Ireland in 1919 and started writing plays, articles, and stories.
Involvement in the Nationalist Movement
When Teresa Deevy returned to Ireland in 1919, the country was in the middle of the Irish War of Independence. This time greatly shaped her writing and her ideas. She was very involved in the movement for Irish independence. She admired Constance Markievicz, a famous Irish revolutionary.
Teresa joined Cumann na mBan, which was an Irish women's group that supported the Irish Volunteers. Her strong beliefs about Irish independence and women's rights can be seen in her plays. Two examples are Katie Roche and The King of Spain's Daughter.
Working with the Abbey Theatre
In 1930, Teresa Deevy had her first play, Reapers, performed at the famous Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Many more plays quickly followed, including In Search of Valour, Temporal Powers, The King of Spain's Daughter, and Katie Roche. Katie Roche is probably her most well-known play.
Teresa's plays came out just after famous writers like W. B. Yeats and Lady Gregory had been writing for the Abbey. Many people thought she would become one of the next great Irish playwrights. Her plays were usually very popular and often won awards. Some were even brought back to the stage many times. Her plays often quietly challenged society's rules. Many were written just before or during the time when the Republic of Ireland was being formed in 1937.
However, her relationship with the Abbey Theatre became difficult. They rejected her play, Wife to James Whelan, in 1937. This play was later performed by Daisy Bannard Cogley at her Studio Theatre Club in 1956.
Writing for Radio
After Teresa stopped writing plays for the Abbey Theatre, she focused mostly on radio. This was amazing because she had become deaf before radio became popular in Ireland in the late 1920s. Teresa wrote a lot for twenty years for Radio Éireann (Irish radio) and the BBC (British radio).
She adapted some of her earlier plays for radio, like Temporal Powers and Katie Roche. She also adapted Polinka by the famous writer Anton Chekhov. Her radio play, Within a marble city, won first prize in a Radio Éireann competition in 1948. Two of her plays were even shown on television by the BBC. Her plays have also been performed on stage many times since she passed away, most recently by the Mint Theater Company in New York.
Important Themes in Her Writing
Teresa Deevy's plays often explored themes about women's limited choices in society. She wrote about women who felt trapped by home life or had to choose between an unhappy marriage and a life of hard work. Teresa often criticized the very Catholic society she lived in. She felt it had strict and unfair views about women.
She also questioned the rules of the Irish theatre world, especially about censorship. She wondered about the power of censors and how to change their influence. Her work often looked at how individuals try to find their place in society, showing that personal struggles can be linked to bigger political issues.
Later Life and Legacy
In 1954, Teresa Deevy was chosen to join the Irish Academy of Letters. This was a special honor for her contributions to Irish theatre. People became more interested in her work from the mid-1950s onwards. This happened after Irish poet John Jordan wrote about her plays in a magazine called University Review in 1956.
Teresa moved back to Waterford after her sister Nell passed away. She had lived with Nell in Dublin, and Nell was very important to her as she helped her with lip-reading. Teresa became a well-known sight in Waterford city, riding her "High Nelly" bicycle around town. When her health got worse, she went to the Maypark Nursing Home in Waterford. She passed away there in 1963, at the age of 68, just two days before her birthday.
Her Lasting Impact
Plays like Katie Roche, Temporal Powers, Wife to James Whelan, and The Suitcase Under the Bed have been performed by the Mint Theater Company in New York. They have a "Teresa Deevy Project" to celebrate her work. They call her "One of Ireland’s best and most neglected dramatists."
An honorary blue plaque (a special sign) hangs in Waterford city to honor Teresa Deevy. It is on Passage Road, thanks to the Waterford Civic Trust.
In 2011, Teresa Deevy's writings and papers were given to the Maynooth University library. These include her finished and unfinished plays, newspaper articles about her work, and her personal letters.
Her play, The King of Spain's Daughter, is currently on the reading list for Junior Cycle English in Ireland. This means students study it in school!
Published Works
Here are some of the plays and stories Teresa Deevy wrote:
Stage Plays
- The Reapers (1930)
- Temporal Powers (1932)
- The King of Spain's Daughter (1935)
- Katie Roche (1936)
- Wife to James Whelan (1937)
- Within a Marble City (1948)
- A Minute's Wait
Radio Plays
- Wife to James Whelan (radio version)
- Polinka (adapted from Chekhov) (1946)
- Dignity (1947)
- Within a Marble City (radio version)
- Holiday House
Short Stories
- Strange People (1946)
- Just Yesterday: A Story
- The Greatest Wonder in the World: A Christmas Story
