Macnamara Morgan (c.1720–1762) was an Irish

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, and

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

Life

He was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, was called to the bar in 1744, and practised at Dublin. In the 1740s he started to have his plays performed. He is best remembered for writing the tragedy ''Philoclea'' which premiered at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

on 22 January 1754. The play was heavily influenced by his friend

Spranger Barry Spranger Barry (23 November 1719 – 10 January 1777) was an Irish actor. Life He was born in Skinner's Row, Dublin, the son of a silversmith, to whose business he was brought up. He took over the business but was not successful. His fir ...

and based on

Philip Sidney Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philip ...

’s ''

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

'' and it was presented for nine nights.

Maria Nossiter Maria Isabella Nossiter (1735 – 25 April 1759) was a British stage actress. She died young having risen to a high salary and owning a share of a Dublin theatre. Life Nossiter was born in 1735 and she is believed to be the daughter of George Ch ...

took the lead role in ''Philoclea'' and it was said that the play had been "brought forward and wrote purposely to show her to advantage by McNamara Morgan". Morgan also wrote the pastoral comedy ''The Sheep-Shearing or Florizel and Perdita'', which premiered in Dublin in 1747 at the Smock Alley Theatre and was subsequently revived at Covent Garden in 1754. The work is based on

William Shakespear William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

'', contained music by

Thomas Arne Thomas Augustine Arne (; 12 March 17105 March 1778) was an English composer. He is best known for his patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!" and the song "A-Hunting We Will Go", the latter composed for a 1777 production of ''The Beggar's Opera'', whic ...

and was published in 1767.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Macnamara Irish dramatists and playwrights Irish male poets Irish male dramatists and playwrights Irish poets 1720 births 1762 deaths