THE LITERARY REVIVAL: In the midst of movements to revive the Irish language and promote a return to Irish sports, Irish literature and theater experienced an extraordinary period of creativity and innovation. Interestingly, most of the leading figures -- William Butler YEATS, John M. SYNGE, Lady GREGORY and George RUSSELL were Anglo-Irish Protestants. Yet they discarded the class, religious, and political values of the Ascendancy in favor of a cultural nationalism that denounced British colonialism for hindering the development of native Irish traditions. YEATS and other literary revivalists were fascinated by ancient Ireland's past, especially the Celtic, pre-Christian era, and incorporated many of its themes and imagery into their works of drama and poetry. They also celebrated and romanticized the Irish peasant of the Gaeltacht as the possessors and nurturers of Ireland's non-British cultural traditions. YEATS summarized the connection between Irish nationalism an! d the Irish literary revival: "No fine nationality without fine literature...no fine literature without nationality." In 1899, the leading figures of Ireland's literary revival established the National Literary Society. Its goal was to support amateur actors and playwrights in producing a self-consciously national drama. In 1904, the organization opened the Abbey Theatre. It soon achieved a wide reputation for staging the works of the leading figures in Ireland's literary revival - William Butler YEATS, Lady GREGORY, and John M. SYNGE. There existed a significant divide within the Abbey Theatre between those dedicated to serious dramatic realism and those more motivated by explicitly patriotic and nationalist ideals. The best example of this divide was the reaction to John Millington SYNGE's "The Playboy of the Western World." Born in Co. Dublin in 1871, SYNGE first studied music before settling upon the career in writing. In the 1890s, while living in Paris, he met YEATS who convinced him to move to the Aran Islands and write about the people in that isolated, largely un-Anglicized region. SYNGE spent three years there, writing the book "The Aran Islands" (1907) and collecting stories which he incorporated into plays for the Irish National Theater. His first two plays (1903-04) provoked a hostile response from critics, who bristled at his celebration of earthy and sometimes crude peasant culture. The debut of his great comedy, "The Playboy of the Western World," today considered a classic, sparked a riot outside the Abbey Theatre by protestors who considered its depiction of Irish characters derogatory and offensive. The outraged response to SYNGE's play was more the exception that the rule in Ireland. While Gaelic Revivalists continued to draw criticism from conservatives, they produced ex! cellent and unique works that found a receptive audience. Excerpts, "1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History," Edward T. O'Donnell (2002).