author
George Shiels
1886–1949
An Irish dramatist whose sharp, lively plays brought Ulster voices and small-town life onto the stage. Best known for work performed at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre, he wrote with humor, realism, and a keen eye for everyday character.
1 Audiobook
Professor Tim & Paul Twyning : Comedies in three acts
by George Shiels
About the author
Born near Ballymoney, County Antrim, George Shiels became one of the best-known Irish playwrights of the early 20th century. Reliable biographical sources identify him as a dramatist closely associated with Ulster life and with the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, where many of his plays were staged.
As a young man he emigrated to North America and later returned to Ireland. Accounts from Irish biographical and cultural sources note that a serious accident left him using a wheelchair for the rest of his life, but he went on to build a successful writing career.
Shiels is especially remembered for realistic comedies and dramas that captured local speech, social habits, and the tensions of ordinary communities. Among the plays most often singled out are The New Gossoon, The Passing Day, and The Rugged Path, works that helped secure his place in Irish theatre history.