Sybil le Brocquy (21 December 1892 – 4 September 1973) was an Irish playwright, patron of the arts and conservationist. One of her three children was the painter

Louis le Brocquy __NOTOC__ Louis le Brocquy ''HRHA'' (; 10 November 1916 – 25 April 2012) was an Irish painter born in Dublin to Albert and Sybil le Brocquy. His work received many accolades in a career that spanned some seventy years of creative practice. ...

Life and work

Born Helen Mary Sybil Staunton in Herbert Street,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

to Dorothy Eleanor Redington and Peter Maurice Staunton. Her father was barrister who later became a solicitor. Though he moved to Aram Lodge,

Castlerea Castlerea (; ) is the third largest town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is located in the west of the county and had a population of 1,992 at the 2016 Census. Roughly translated from Irish, Castlerea is generally thought to mean 'brindled ca ...

, County Roscommon where he practised law, le Brocquy grew up in Dublin and

Howth Howth ( ; ; non, Hǫfuð) is an affluent peninsular village and outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The district as a whole occupies the greater part of the peninsula of Howth Head, which forms the northern boundary of Dublin Bay, and includes ...

, going to secondary school in Loreto Abbey,

Rathfarnham Rathfarnham () is a Southside suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is south of Terenure, east of Templeogue, and is in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and 16. It is within the administrative areas of both Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Counci ...

, and later at Loreto Convent, St. Stephen’s Green. She went on to study German and singing in

Coblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman military post by Drusus around 8 B.C. Its na ...

. She married Albert le Brocquy on 30 December 1915 and settled in Dublin. They had three children,

Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

, Noel and Melanie. le Brocquy became involved in various women's movements helping to organise the

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is a non-profit non-governmental organization working "to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious backgrounds determined to study and make kno ...

in July, 1926. She was involved with the League of Nations Association as well as helping to establish Irish Civil Rights,

PEN A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...

, and

Amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

in Ireland. She was an active member of Old Dublin Society and for a time president of the Irish Women Writers’ Society. She acted with the Drama League appearing as Helen Staunton. She wrote plays and dramatic pieces which were staged by the Drama League at the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the p ...

and broadcast by

Radio Éireann Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

. Her writings and work were often historically investigative, finding Yeats’s birthplace and arguing that

Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, ...

had a child by Vanessa. She was involved in the Swift Tercentenary celebrations with

Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh (; 12 February 1911 – 21 March 1978) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, judge and barrister who served as the fifth president of Ireland from December 1974 to October 1976. His birth name was registered in English ...

. As a result of her work, including with

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

Library and representing the Library on the Royal Irish Academy’s National Committee for Anglo-Irish Literature, she was co-opted to the Cultural Committee of the Department of External Affairs and appointed a Trustee of the

National Library of Ireland The National Library of Ireland (NLI; ga, Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is the Republic of Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The mission of the National Library of Ireland i ...

. le Brocquy was an excellent organiser and fundraiser and was heavily responsible for securing money for the

Gate Theatre The Gate Theatre is a theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928. History Beginnings The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Gearóid Ó Lochlai ...

, Dublin in 1970. She also initiated the literary prize, the Book of the Year award. However le Brocquy became ill with an undiagnosed illness and died on 4 September 1973 at the Meath Hospital, Dublin.

Bibliography

* Winning Ways (Drama League 1931), MS in NLI * View on Vanessa: A Correspondence with Interludes for the Stage (Dublin: The Dolmen Press 1967) * Cadenus: A Reassessment in the Light of New Evidence of the Relationships between Swift, Stella, and Vanessa (Dublin: Dolmen 1962), xiii * Stella’s Birthdays Poems by Jonathan Swift / edited with a commentary by Sybil Le Brocquy (Dublin: Dolmen Press 1967) etails * Swift’s Most Valuable Friend (Dublin: Dolmen 1968) * Brendan the Navigator : a synopsis of the legend of his westward voyage, (Dundalk: P.J. Carroll)

Life and work

Bibliography

References

Further reading