Padraic Colum was born in County Longford and reared on his grandfather's farm in County Cavan. He worked as a clerk in the railway clearing-house in Dublin and began to write in 1903. His plays Broken Soil (later renamed The Fiddler's House); The Land; and Thomas Muskerry were produced for the theatre. He was the author of lyrics such as 'She Moved Through the Fair'. In 1907 his first collection of poems The Wild Earth was published. Before moving to America, where he taught comparative literature at Columbia University, he co-founded the Irish Review. During his stay in America he published folk tales in the New York Tribune and was invited by the government of Hawaii to investigate their myths and legends and to write them as children's stories. His collected poems appeared in 1953. He was given doctrates from both University College, Dublin, and Columbia University, and he was awarded the Gregory Medal of the Irish Academy of Letters. He published a biography of Arthur Griffith and in collaboration with his wife Mary, Our Friend James Joyce. He was given a grant by the American-Irish Foundation and he was President of the United Arts Club. He died in Connecticut and is buried in Sutton, County Dublin.

Born:	8 December 1881
Died:	11 January 1972