Brian Friel & the Global Audience
Brian Friel; Photographs by Fergus Bourke. NLI MS 37, 472.
The most comprehensive collection of Brian Friel’s work, manuscripts and memorabilia are housed in the National Library of Ireland.
The Brian Friel Papers have attracted scholars, students and literary researchers from all around the world to Dublin. Today, on the 10th anniversary of Friel’s death, we are exploring how this renowned collection has continued impact both in Ireland and the wider world.
The Brian Friel Papers (1960 − 2001) comprises material relating to his early days as a short story writer, and the subsequent writing and production of 30 radio and stage plays. It includes documents concerning the establishment and administration of the Field Day Theatre Company, correspondence with actors, directors, producers, writers and academics and articles as well as theses on Friel and his work.
Originally made up of 130 boxes of material, the papers date from 1959 onwards and were presented to the National Library in December 2000 by Friel and his family. Fourteen additional boxes of material were also deposited by Mr. Friel’s literary agent, Curtis Brown. Additional material was later donated in 2011. A series of diaries will not be available for consultation until 1st of January 2034.
Join us on October 2nd to celebrate Friel with a selection of speakers including researcher Virginie Roche Tiengo, designer Peter O’Brien, theatre historian Paul Murphy, and Noel Pearson, former artistic director and Chair of the Abbey Theatre.
Brian Friel Autograph; Bluett Collection of Autographed Photographs of Irish Actors; NLI NPA BL170.
Notebook labelled "Dancing at Lughnasa, Dancing for Lugh. Ceremonies at Lughnasa. Rituals at Lughnasa"; Brian Friel Papers, 1960-2001. NLI MS 37,104/5/1.
Notebook labelled "Dancing at Lughnasa, Dancing for Lugh. Ceremonies at Lughnasa. Rituals at Lughnasa", Typescript pages with manuscript notes containing draft Act 1; Brian Friel Papers, 1960-2001. NLI MS 37,104/5/1.
Virginie Roche-Tiengo, is an Associate Professor in Irish Studies at the University d’Artois. Following her Ph.D. at the Sorbonne on Lost Unity: The Poetics of Myth in the Theatre of the Irish Playwright Brian Friel, she has published articles on Irish drama, in particular the work of Brian Friel, Thomas Kilroy, James Joyce, Lady Gregory, Samuel Beckett, Brendan Behan, Marina Carr, Frank McGuinness, Mary Manning, Charles Macklin and Richard Brinsley Sheridan. She has been a member of scientific committees for the organization of international colloquia in Ireland, the United States, France, Spain and Argentina, and has chaired debates at conferences in Japan, Italy, Ireland and France. She is currently researching the archives of the National Library of Ireland with a view to publishing a book on the work of Brian Friel and his outstanding legacy worldwide. Her research also focuses on the interaction between law and theatre. In 2025, she co-organized a symposium at Boston College Dublin on the involvement of women in political, cultural, social and economic life during the long 19th century in Ireland.
Peter O’Brien was born in London to Irish parents, returning to Ireland as a child. He started working in visual display in Dublin department stores after leaving school early. At 19, Peter moved to London and worked in display in Marshall & Snellgrove. While there he completed a degree course in Fashion Design at Saint Martin’s School Of Art. Peter then completed a post-graduate course at Parsons School of Design in New York. Upon graduating, Peter moved to Paris where he worked at Christian Dior, at Givenchy, and as Head Designer at Chloé . In 1989, he was appointed creative director at Rochas.
Peter returned to Ireland in 2004 where he has since been working as a freelance designer. In 2005, Peter also started designing for theater. To date he has designed the costumes for numerous plays at Dublin’s Gate Theatre and at The Abbey Theatre, Dublin. In 2012, Stoney Road Press launched ‘Workbook,’ a collection of O’Brien’s theatre and fashion drawings spanning 30 years. In 2018, Peter’s costume drawings for Brian Friel’s translation of ‘A Month In The Country’ were officially added to the Print & Drawing collection at The National Library of Ireland.
A key aspect of my academic career is as a theatre historian with an interest in social and economic inequality, manifest in monographs including Hegemony and Fantasy in Irish Drama (Palgrave, 2008), and Theatre and Class (Bloomsbury, 2024). Current projects include a monograph charting the evolution of class as performance on stage and in society in the British context over the last two centuries, and the authorised biography of playwright Brian Friel. My presentation ‘Friel Reimagined: digital scholarship and public engagement’ focusses on how Friel’s legacy can be enhanced in an age where digital technology is increasingly prevalent alongside the human need for social interaction and a sense of inclusion.
If our team can be of any assistance, please contact us on learning@nli.ie.
