Padraic Colum

Patrick Collumb, of Collumbkille, County Longford in Ireland, was the first of eight children (born on December 8, 1881 to Patrick and Susan, died 11 January 1972) . He only received eight years of formal education. His father left his job and family to seek his fortune in the gold fields of Colorado,USA but returned in 1890 and became a railway clerk. His mother passed away in 1897. He became a clerk in the Irish Clearing House at the age of seventeen. After joining the Gaelic League and the Irish Republican Army in 1901, he started calling himself Padraic Colum. His first poems were published in 1902 and the first production of one of his plays was in 1903. Padraic acted for a short time with the Irish National Theater Society, but concentrated on writing after his first play was produced. He left his job in 1904 determined to make a living as a writer.