Colum, Padraic, << KOL uhm, PAW drihk >> (1881-1972), was an Irish playwright, poet, biographer, short-story writer, essayist, folklorist, and children’s author. He was an original member of the group of Irish writers who made Dublin’s Abbey Theatre famous. Colum wrote three important plays for the Abbey—Broken Soil (1903, revised as The Fiddler’s House), The Land (1905), and Thomas Muskerry (1910). Each is a realistic study of peasant or provincial life in Ireland.
Colum was born on Dec. 8, 1881, in County Longford, and moved to the United States in 1914. He then began writing young people’s books based on myth and folklore. These books include The Adventures of Odysseus (1918) and The Children of Odin (1920). These works are important for bringing classical literature to children.
Colum’s verse—from Wild Earth (1907) to Collected Poems (1953)—is a subtle rendering of simple speech and song patterns. Colum’s verse is clear in style and nostalgic in feeling. With his wife, Mary, Colum wrote Our Friend James Joyce (1958). Padraic Colum died on Jan. 11, 1972.
