Making History (play)

Making History is a 1988 play written by Irish playwright Brian Friel, which premiered at the Guildhall, Derry on 20 September 1988.^[1] It focuses on the life and legacy of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, who led a combined Irish-Spanish alliance against the English during the Nine Years' War. The play is set before and after the Battle of Kinsale. The battle does not directly feature in the play, although it is central to the plot.

Making History
Script cover
Written by	Brian Friel
Characters	Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone Mabel Bagenal Harry Hoveden Hugh Roe O'Donnell Mary Bagenal Peter Lombard
Date premiered	September 20, 1988 (1988-09-20)
Place premiered	Guildhall, Derry
Original language	English
Subject	Irish nationalism, Nine Years' War, historiography
Genre	History play
Setting	Dungannon, Sperrin Mountains and Rome, 1590s

The play's other main theme is O'Neill's unexpected third marriage to the much younger Anglo-Irish Protestant Mabel Bagenal, daughter and sister of two of his most implacable enemies, which the play presents as a genuine though ill-fated love marriage.^[2]

Characters

Character	Original production	Ref.
Hugh O'Neill	Stephen Rea	[3][4][5]
Harry Hovenden	Niall O'Brien	[4][5]
Hugh O'Donnell	Peter Gowen	[4][5]
Archbishop Lombard	Niall Tóibín	[3][4][5]
Mabel Bagenal	Clare Holman	[3][4][5]
Mary Bagenal	Emma Dewhurst	[3][4][5]