Ernest William Blythe was an Irish journalist, managing director of the Abbey Theatre, and politician who served as Minister for Finance from 1923 to 1932, Minister for Posts and Telegraphs and Vice-President of the Executive Council from 1927 to 1932 and Minister for Local Government from 1922 to 1923. He was a Senator for the Labour Panel from 1934 to 1936. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Monaghan constituency from 1921 to 1933 and Member of Parliament (MP) for Monaghan North from 1918 to 1922.
Blythe in 1922
All dressed in Blueshirt attire, Ned Cronin (left) and Eoin O'Duffy (centre) flank Blythe on the right, in this photograph from c. early 1934
The Abbey Theatre, also known as the National Theatre of Ireland, in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the public on 27 December 1904, and moved from its original building after a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day. The Abbey was the first state-subsidized theatre in the English-speaking world; from 1925 onwards it received an annual subsidy from the Irish Free State. Since July 1966, the Abbey has been located at 26 Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1.
Front façade
A poster for the opening run at the Abbey Theatre from 27 December 1904 to 3 January 1905
Lady Gregory pictured on the frontispiece to Our Irish Theatre: A Chapter of Autobiography (1913)
John Millington Synge, author of The Playboy of the Western World, which caused riots at the Abbey on the play's opening night