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Title: Duty, and other Irish Comedies

Author: Seumas O'Brien

Release Date: April 9, 2004 [EBook #11969]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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DUTY AND OTHER IRISH COMEDIES

[Illustration: FROM THE DRY POINT STUDY BY P. GRASSBY]

DUTY AND OTHER IRISH COMEDIES

BY

SEUMAS O'BRIEN

1916

CONTENTS

DUTY
JURISPRUDENCE
MAGNANIMITY
MATCHMAKERS
RETRIBUTION

DUTY

A COMEDY IN ONE ACT

CHARACTERS

HEAD CONSTABLE MULLIGAN _A Member of the Royal Irish Constabulary_
SERGEANT DOOLEY _A Member of the R.I.C._
CONSTABLE HUGGINS _A Member of the R.I.C._
MICUS GOGGIN
PADNA SWEENEY
MRS. ELLEN COTTER _A public-house keeper_

DUTY was produced for the first time at the Abbey
Theatre, Dublin, December 17, 1913, with the following
cast:

Head Constable Mulligan, R.I.C. ARTHUR SINCLAIR
Sergeant Dooley, R.I.C. FRED O'DONOVAN
Constable Huggins, R.I.C. SYDNEY J. MORGAN
Micus Goggin J.M. KERRIGAN
Padna Sweeney J.A. O'ROURKE
Mrs. Ellen Cotter UNA O'CONNOR

DUTY

_Back kitchen of a country public house. Micus and Padna seated at a
table drinking from pewter pints. Mrs. Cotter enters in response to a
call_.

PADNA (_pointing to pint measures_)
Fill 'em again, ma'am, please.

MRS. COTTER (_taking pints, and wiping table_)
Fill 'em again, is it? Indeed I won't do any such thing.

MICUS
Indeed you will, Mrs. Cotter.

MRS. COTTER
Don't you know that 'tis Sunday night, an' that the police
might call any minute?

MICUS (_disdainfully_)
The police!

PADNA
Bad luck to them!

MICUS Amen!

MRS. COTTER
This will be the last drink that any one will get in
this house to-night.
[_Exit_.

MICUS
'Tis a nice state of affairs to think that dacent men,
after a hard week's work, can't have a drink in pace
and quietness in the town they were born and reared
in, without bein' sca