Dr. Nelson O’Ceallaigh Ritschel is retired Professor of Humanities at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. He received his Ph.D. in Dramatic Literature and Theatre History from Brown University. He has written a few plays, among them Within the Maze and Houligan Cogs, and is also the author of several books, including Synge and Irish Nationalism: The Precursor to Revolution (Greenwood Press, 2002) and Productions of the Irish Theatre Movement, 1899-1916 (Greenwood Press, 2001. Dr. Ritschel has also delivered papers for the American Conference for Irish Studies, the International Shaw Society, and the Eugene O’Neill Society.
