When Grandpa Trod the Boards: From The Colleen Bawn to the Irish Cultural Garden

Title page from The Colleen Bawn script.

 

In 1933, when Joseph John Gilbride was 23 years old, he took to the stage. Grandpa had a bit part as a soldier in a production of the 19th century Irish play, The Colleen Bawn, by Dion Boucicault. The play was produced in Cleveland's Little Theater in Public Hall.¹ 

My grandpa's name and address in The Colleen Bawn cast list.²

 

Now, it's not a huge stretch to imagine Grandpa doing a bit of theater. He was an outgoing fella, prone to jokes, puns, and visual nonsense that made his grandkids laugh. 

Cut-up Grandpa checks out his new headphones, getting a smile from Grandma!³

But beyond the novelty of thinking about a young Grandpa playing a soldier, it was the context of this Theater of Nations endeavor and the groups that helped produce The Colleen Bawn that grabbed my attention.

 

Beginnings 

It began with this announcement on 13 December 1929 in The Plain Dealer:

Races of City to Give Plays with P.D. Aid

Actors of 26 Foreign Groups will Present Cycle of Dramas in Theater of Nations 

"The first Theater of Nations for any city in the world, where the community dramatics of every race and nationality are to be encouraged and developed on a broad scale, is being given Cleveland by the Plain Dealer."⁴

The newspaper's effort recognized that there were already many ethnic theater and musical groups active in the city's neighborhood halls that were "worthy of wider recognition," though perhaps amateurish in staging. The Plain Dealer noted, "Many of them colorful in native costume, all of them interesting, these productions are staged under handicaps, oftentimes, that would discourage the most enthusiastic."⁵

To give these efforts a wider audience, The Plain Dealer assumed the cost of staging a festival, providing "a real theater, on a real stage, with scenic effects in keeping with the plays and talent."⁶ 

The 600-seat Little Theater at Public Auditorium was the "real theater" chosen for the festival's primary venue, with the Music Hall available for larger productions. In addition, the newspaper provided professional management and expert technical direction for the series.⁷ 

Cleveland's Public Auditorium, home of the Little Theater.⁸

Undated photo of the Little Theater stage.⁹

Productions and actors were chosen by each participating cultural organization. The 26 groups were each given one rehearsal and one Sunday evening production in that inaugural 1929 year and were allowed to keep box office receipts to use as they wished. Plays or musicals were offered in each group's native tongue; in the first season, native-language productions were offered in Syrian, Czech, Rusyn, and Hungarian.¹⁰ 

By early 1933, the yearly Theater of Nations was widely praised for recognizing and celebrating the unique contributions made by each cultural group. The newspaper praised the participants, writing, "That foreign-born residents have not come to this country empty-handed was evidenced. That the combination of European tradition and American environment have enriched life here with the gifts which the newcomers brought to their adopted country also appeared. As for the groups themselves, they were encouraged to take pride in their heritage and to feel that the land of their choice applauded its conservation."¹¹

 

The Colleen Bawn 

The Irish contribution in 1933, The Colleen Bawn, dramatized the love story between aristocrat Hardress Cregan and Eily O’Connor, the provincial Colleen Bawn (Irish Cailín Bán, meaning “innocent girl”). The Plain Dealer wrote: "All the elements of Irish melodrama of the mid-nineteenth century are embodied in the play which tells of the heavily mortgaged ancestral estate; the rich marriage demanded of the heir; his secret marriage to an obscure rustic beauty; the attempted murder of the young wife, all culminating in a happy ending."¹²

The play was the last of 14 productions in the 1933 season. Ticket prices were set at $.50 cents, $.75 cents, and $1; in the depths of those Depression years, what seems like a small token to us today would have cost a theatergoer the equivalent of between $16-33, no small amount at the time.¹³

The Colleen Bawn was sponsored by the American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic, and its Irish Dramatic Group. The organization planned to use box office funds to help establish the Irish Cultural Garden on East Boulevard—now MLK Drive—in Cleveland.¹⁴

A larger Irish connection (or how Grandpa may have gotten the gig)

The American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic (AARIR) was established in Washington, D. C., in December 1920, by Éamon de Valera, then president of the executive council of the Irish Free State and later president of the Irish Republic. De Valera organized the Benjamin Franklin Pledge Council of AARIR on a trip to Cleveland in January 1921. It was the national association's first Ohio branch.¹⁵

Back in 1932, Cleveland's local AARIR members were exultant when De Valera became head of the Irish government, pledging a policy of separation from England. "To thousands of Clevelanders of Irish origin De Valera's victory in Irish elections means more than a hope that the Irish people will get a new deal...It means, above all, the fulfillment of ardent hopes and the achievement of a high purpose for which thousands here and in other parts of the United States contributed energy, time, and money."¹⁶

Which leads to my question: Given that the actors and plays were chosen by the sponsoring cultural group, was Grandpa an AARIR member? Was that how he had the opportunity to land a role in The Colleen Bawn?

I don't doubt it. Grandpa was Irish to his bones. Both his parents, John Joseph Gilbride and Margaret McAndrew, descended from Irish immigrants. John's great-grandparents, the Gilbrides—then Kilbrides—came to the U.S. in April 1850, after the Famine, while Margaret McAndrew's parents arrived from Éire in the mid-1860s.¹⁷ All eventually made their way to Pennsylvania, and Grandpa was born in North Scranton in a primarily Irish neighborhood.¹⁸ His heritage had to have been an enormous part of his identity, though growing up I was blithely ignorant of it. But I can certainly imagine him throwing his support behind the cause of Irish independence.

 

The Irish Cultural Garden

It's nice to think that in a very small way, through his role in The Colleen Bawn, Grandpa contributed to establishing Cleveland's Irish Cultural Garden. The garden was first dedicated on 28 May 1933, just weeks after the play closed. Two thousand spectators gathered at the event to hear speeches and to see Killarney rose bushes planted in an Ireland-shaped bed, in honor of Irish poet Thomas Moore. Shamrock, rose, and cowslip seeds, all flown in from Ireland for the occasion, were also planted. It was the city's eighth in its series of national cultural gardens which today numbers 38.¹⁹

Rev. Kirby addresses dedication attendees.²⁰

Rev. Kirby plants Killarney roses at the dedication.²¹

The garden has been developed over the years into a beautiful tribute to Ireland, featuring a landscape design with sandstone walkways in the shape of a Celtic Cross and bordered with planting beds. A fountain, modeled after one in Dublin, was added in 2010. A Writer's Recognition Court honors thirteen Irish writers, poets, and playwrights, including James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, William Butler Yeats, and Seamus Heaney, among others.²²

The replica fountain in today's Irish Cultural Garden. (Photo courtesy of Cleveland Cultural Gardens)

The garden features a Celtic Cross. (Photo courtesy of Cleveland Cultural Gardens)

I never imagined the rich background behind Grandpa's bit role in a theater production when I first saw the newspaper clipping many years ago. Pulling on the various threads of this story has given me a better understanding of what the Theater of Nations and the Cultural Gardens might have meant, not only to Grandpa, but also to Cleveland itself at that time.

The Theater of Nations gave residents a reason to celebrate in the midst of the Great Depression, and more importantly, it honored the differences among citizens, seeing and celebrating them. The Cleveland Cultural Gardens served a similar purpose, dedicating a prominent presence to each culture's heritage and heroes, guided by the motto: Peace through Mutual Understanding.²³

And all of it makes this Cleveland-raised gal proud. 

Until next time...

 © Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2026. All rights reserved.   

 

READ The Colleen Bawn script here:  https://wdc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/hall/id/8332

MAIN IMAGE

The colleen bawn; or, the brides of Garryowen : a domestic drama, in three acts / by Dion Boucicault, Esq., (London: John Dicks, 188?); imaged, Warwick Digital Collections (https://wdc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/hall/id/8332 : accessed 16 June 2026); citing Hall Collection of prompt books, University of Warwick Library, Coventry, U.K.

NOTES

¹ "Irish Actors Win in 'Colleen Bawn," The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), 15 May 1933, p. 15, col. 4, Joseph J. Gilbride; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-plain-dealer-collen-bawn-review/198814284/ : accessed 11 June 2026. 

² "Colleen is Again Heroine for Irish," The Plain Dealer, 13 May 1933, p. 16, col. 7, Joseph J. Gilbride; imaged, Newpapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-plain-dealer-colleen-bawn-article/198814124/ : accessed 23 June 2026).

3 Joseph J. Gilbride and Josephine Gilbride, photograph, circa 1975?, possibly taken by Ann Kozlina Gilbride, their daughter-in-law; privately held by Ann's son, Joe Gilbride, North Ridgeville, Ohio, 2026. Digital image emailed from Joe Gilbride to his sister Nancy Gilbride Casey, 10 April 2018.

⁴ "Races of City to Give Plays with P.D. Aid," The Plain Dealer, 13 Dec. 1929, p. 1, col. 2; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/1059288289/ : accessed 16 June 2026).

⁵ Ibid, p. 1, col. 2 and p. 6, col. 2-3.

⁶ "Races of City to Give Plays with P.D. Aid," The Plain Dealer, 13 Dec. 1929, p. 6, col. 2-3.

⁷ Ibid.

⁸ Cleveland Public Auditorium, Cleveland, Ohio, postcard, n.d.; image, Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cleveland_Public_Auditorium,_Cleveland,_Ohio._-_DPLA_-_f6b1e3682b8fd05a77ffbd51a6019dc4_(page_1).jpg : accessed 16 June 2026); citing Columbus Metropolitan Library.

⁹ Cleveland Streets, Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/ClevelandStreets : accessed 22 June 2026), post by Erich Zomboryzsendovics, 18 October 2023, "the Little Theater..." undated photograph of Little Theater proscenium arch. Use with permission.

¹⁰ "Races of City to Give Plays with P.D. Aid," The Plain Dealer, 13 Dec. 1929, p. 6, col. 2-3. Also, "Syrians to Give First Show in Native Tongue," The Plain Dealer, 20 Dec. 1929, p. 18, col. 1; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/1164433280/ : accessed 16 June 2026).

¹¹ "Nations Theater Season Launched," The Plain Dealer, 4 Jan. 1933, p. 6, col. 2; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/1059148099/ : accessed 16 June 2026).

¹² "Irish Players Close Season of Theater-Nations Tonight," The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), 14 May 1933, p. 48, cols. 4-5, Joseph J. Gilbride; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-plain-dealer-colleen-bawn-preview/198814223/  : accessed 11 June 2026. 

¹³ "Irish Players Close Season of Theater-Nations Tonight," The Plain Dealer, 14 May 1933. Also, U.S. Inflation Calculator (https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ : accessed 16 June 2026), results from calculation of $.50, $.75, and $1.00 from 1913 to 2026 dollars.

¹⁴ "Irish Players Close Season of Theater-Nations Tonight," The Plain Dealer, 14 May 1933. 

¹⁵ The Cleveland Memory Project (https://clemem-test.ulib.csuohio.edu/iac/articles/Irfree.html : accessed 16 June 2026), "Irish Americans of Cleveland"; citing Theodore Andrica, "Irishmen Here Worked Hard to Attain their Goal, a Free, Independent Ireland," The Cleveland Press, 16 March 1935.

¹⁶ "Clevelanders Help to Put De Valera Over," The Plain Dealer, 25 Feb. 1932, p. 4, col. 1; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cleveland-press-cleveland-helps-de-v/199505734/ : accessed 16 June 2026).

¹⁷ John Eldrige, ship master, Liverpool, passenger manifest, Jas. Kilbride, arriving New York, New York, 3 April 1850; imaged database, "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939V-559C-54?i=606 : accessed 21 May 2024. 

¹⁸ Internal Revenue Assessment Lists for Pennsylvania, 1862-1866, microfilm publication M787, annual lists, 1865, roll 58, district 7, collection district 12, p. 49 (penned), Patrick McAndrews, Providence, miner; imaged, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1264/records/7534096 : accessed 7 June 2025; citing National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 58, Records of the Internal Revenue Service, 1791-2006, Washington, D.C. Also, Holy Rosary Catholic Church (Scranton, Lackawanna, Pennsylvania), Certificate of Baptism, Joseph Gilbride, b. 9 April 1910, baptized 12 April 19; citing Mary, Mother of God Parish records. 

¹⁹ Mark Tebeau, "Irish Cultural Garden," Cleveland Historical (https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/116 : posted 31 December 2010 and updated 17 April 2026). Also, "Irish-American to Dedicate Garden," The Plain Dealer, 28 May 1933, p. 3, col. 2; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/1059237350/ : accessed 13 June 2026). Also, "Plant Shamrocks for Irish Garden," The Plain Dealer, 29 May 1933, p. 7, col. 4; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/1059238873/ : accessed 13 June 2026).

²⁰ "Rev. Fr. E.A. Kirby..." photograph, The Plain Dealer, 4 June 1933, p. 66, col. 1-4; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/1059160900/ : accessed 16 June 2026).

²¹ "2000 see Irish Garden Service," The Cleveland Press, 29 May 1933, p. 8, col. 6-7; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cleveland-press-2000-see-irish-cultu/199695416/ : accessed 16 June 2016).

²² Mark Tebeau, "Irish Cultural Garden," Cleveland Historical. Also, Cleveland Cultural Gardens (https://clevelandculturalgardens.org/gardens/irish-garden/ : accessed 16 June 2026), "Irish Cultural Garden."

²³ Cleveland Cultural Gardens, "Irish Cultural Garden."