Life
1896-1970; worked as actor, director and company manager over his career
at the Abbey Theatre, 1913-1939; joined Irish Volunteers in 1914, at age
18; 1916 insurgent in the GPO; played Michael opposite Lady Gregory as
Cathleen ni Houlihan; ended as film actor in Hollywood, in part because
of poor health which necessitated residence in a warm climate. DIB
Criticism
Homer D. Swander, ‘Shields at the Abbey: A Friend of Cathleen’, Éire-Ireland,
5, 2 (Summer 1970), pp.25-41 [useful detail on Sheils career at the Abbey
and on its staff changes and financial troubles.]
Notes
Sheils spent six months in prison after the Rising, and was released ‘after
being interviewed by a North of Ireland judge who remembered enjoying
his work at the Abbey in a play by a North of Ireland playwright.’ (p.29
Swander, ‘Shields at the Abbey: A Friend of Cathleen’, Éire-Ireland,
5, 2 (Summer 1970), pp.25-41.)
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Princess Grace Irish Library (Monaco)