irish writer john millington synge

JOHN MILLINGTON SYNGE (1871 - 1909)


John Millington Synge was born on 16th April 1871 at Newton Little, Rathfarnham, Dublin. He was educated at Trinity College Dublin, and later studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, where he became proficient on the piano, flute and violin. Having decided to become a musician he moved to Germany in 1893.
Turning to writing, a couple of years later, he went to live in Paris where he met W.B Yeats. During this time he occasionally returned to Ireland especially visiting the Aran Islands.

It was Yeats who influenced Synge to return to the Islands and write about the way of life there. Synge spent the summers of 1889 - 1902 on the Islands, where he spent most of his time listening to talk and stories.
His book "The Aran Islands" was published some years later in 1907, which was illustrated by Jack B Yeats. He wrote two plays for the National Irish Theatre, "The Shadow of the Glen" 1903 and "Riders to the Sea" 1904, both based on the Aran Islands, which were not well received at home.

When the Abbey Theatre opened on 27th December 1904, Synge became literary adviser and later a Director with Yeats and Lady Gregory.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Synge wrote for Irish audiences as seen in his classic comedy "The Playboy of the Western World" produced in the Abbey in 1907. During the first week of the Playboy's opening it required 500 police to control the audience.

Undeterred by this, "The Tinker's Wedding" was produced at the Abbey the same year. Synge's last and unfinished play "Deirdre of the Sorrows" appeared in 1910. It is said that the inspiration for this book was his live for the actress Molly Allgood, who played Pegeen Mike in the Playboy.

Synge's health was never very good and he died at the age of 38 years in March 1909. He is buried at Mount Jerome, Dublin. Other works of Synge, essays and poetry were published the year after his death.