Mary Ellen Quinlan; known as Ella O'Neill (August 13, 1857 – February 28, 1922) was the mother of playwright

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...

and wife of actor James O'Neill. She was the inspiration for many of Eugene O'Neill's stories.

Life

She was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, the daughter of Bridget (née Lundigan) and Thomas Quinlan, both Irish immigrants from

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

. Mary Ellen grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Mary Ellen attended the Ursuline Academy on Euclid Avenue.Shaughnessy, Edward L., "Ella O'Neill and the Imprint of Faith", ''The Eugene O’Neill Review'', Suffolk University, 1992
/ref> Starting at age 15, in 1872, she attended St. Mary's Academy which would later become St. Mary's College in

Notre Dame, Indiana Notre Dame is a census-designated place and unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend in St. Joseph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. It includes the campuses of three colleges: the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary's Co ...

. She graduated in 1875 with honors in music, playing Chopin's ''Polonaise for piano,'' op. 22, at the commencement.Shaughnessy, Edward L., "Ella, James, and Jamie O'Neill: 'My Name Is Might-Have-Been'", ''The Eugene O’Neill Review'', Suffolk University, 1991
/ref> Ella met James O'Neill at her father's house, and later married him on June 14, 1877 in Manhattan."Eugene O'Neill", ''American Experience'', PBS
/ref> Ella was on tour with James in San Francisco when in September 1878, her first son, James, Jr., was born in the house of one of the actor's friends. A second son, Edmund Burke O'Neill was born in 1883 in St. Louis. In late winter 1885, Ella left her sons with her mother in New York to be with James O'Neill while he was traveling in Denver. While she was away, both of her children contacted

Measles Measles (probably from Middle Dutch or Middle High German ''masel(e)'', meaning "blemish, blood blister") is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by Measles morbillivirus, measles v ...

and Edmund died in 1886. Ella blamed herself and James, Jr., who she believed gave Edmund the virus. Another son,

, was born in October 1888. Ella was administered

Morphine Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as an analgesic (pain medication). There are ...

while giving birth and became addicted to it, which she was cured of in 1914.Black, Stephen A., "Mrs. O'Neill's Illness", New York Theater wire
/ref> Her husband died in August 1920, and she died of a brain tumor on February 28, 1922.

In popular culture

Ella O'Neill later became the model for Mary Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's final work '' Long Day's Journey Into Night'', which tells the story of the Tyrone family, who closely resemble the members of Eugene's family. This character says the famous line "Something I need terribly. I remember when I had it I was never lonely nor afraid. I can't have lost it forever, I would die if I thought that. Because then there would be no hope."

References

External links

Ella O'Neill and the Imprint of Faith
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Ella 1857 births 1922 deaths American women writers Writers from New Haven, Connecticut Saint Mary's College (Indiana) alumni