Recollections of the Life of John O'Keeffe

Abstract

John O'Keeffe (1747–1833) was an Irish playwright who began his career as an actor in 1764. His first significant success as a writer was the play The Son-in-Law in 1779, and he was later called 'our English Molière' by essayist William Hazlitt. He moved to London in 1781 - around the same time that his marriage broke down - and wrote a string of successful comic operas and dramatic works, including Wild Oats (1791). However, he suffered from failing eyesight and was nearly blind at the height of his fame. He dictated this memoir, published in two volumes in 1826, to his daughter, Adelaide (1776–1865). In Volume 1, O'Keeffe recounts his childhood in Ireland, his first trip to London in 1762, where he saw the legendary actor and theatre producer David Garrick (1717–79) on stage, and the beginning of his own dramatic career upon returning to Dublin.

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