The man who put Irish drama top of the bill

IT was wonderful to see the Abbey Theatre celebrate its centenary recently. It was good to see so many names associated with its early years remembered, including Willie and Frank Foy and Mary Walker, together with the more familiar names of JM Synge, Maude Gonne, Lady Gregory and WB Yeats.

But spare a thought also for a great drama pioneer of yesteryear in Dublin Bram Stoker, better known as the author of the world's biggest selling novel, Dracula.

He promoted drama in Dublin when it wasn't that fashionable to do so. In the 1870s, he cajoled Henry Maunsell, editor of the Dublin Evening Mail, to publish a regular drama review column which he himself wrote. This introduced many people to drama for the first time.