OUR LATEST PLAY ‘THE LEGACY OF LOSS’ WAS PERFORMED AT THE BLUE ELEPHANT THEATRE, LONDON SE5 0XT
It is 1957 and  Muriel MacSwiney, now in her sixties and living in England looks back on her journey during the turbulent years of 1915 -1923  as she eschewed her wealthy background in favour of the cause of Irish freedom.

Muriel was an unlikely freedom fighter. Born into wealth and privilege in Cork, she grew up increasingly uncomfortable with the poverty and injustice surrounding her. An active supporter of political change in Ireland it wasn’t long before she recognised her political soulmate in Terence MacSwiney, later Lord Mayor of Cork. Their ‘meeting of minds’ led to marriage cut tragically short by Terence’s arrest and imprisonment in Brixton prison, Terence immediately went on hunger strike, losing his struggle in October 1920.

CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS FROM THE PRODUCTION

 

On 27th October 1920 an estimated 30,000 mourners filed past Terence MacSwiney’s coffin reposing in St George’s Cathedral, Southwark two days after his death in Brixton Prison. Many more lined the streets as the coffin was brought through London on its return to Ireland.

The Lord Mayor of Cork’s hunger strike brought the cause for Irish self-rule into the heart of the capital. MacSwiney’s protest at his jail sentence was rarely out of the papers causing George V to worry about the effect that this could have on Britain’s reputation overseas. One story rarely told is what it might have been like for Muriel, his wife, who supported him throughout.

 

Background to the Play.
Click here to find out more about Muriel.
Click here to find out more the historical background to the play.
Click here to find out more Terence MacSwiney
Click here to find out more about the publicity campaign mounted by the family.