The Quiet Men

St Valentine’s Day 2026 marked the centenary of a little known event in history which threatened profound implications both for Irish theatre and world cinema, when “gunmen” attempted to abduct the actor Barry Fitzgerald who was starring at the time in The Abbey Theatre’s first production of Sean O’Casey’s The Plough And The Stars. The real life drama unfolded at the quiet Clontarf home of Fitzgerald’s mother on Seafield Road in the late evening of February 14th 1926.

Three would be kidnappers had appeared at the house rented by Fanny Sofia Shields (neé Ungerland) in an attempt to prevent the actor from performing as Fluther Good in O’Casey’s controversial play by abducting him. Fitzgerald’s sister point blank refused and gave them a piece of her mind while she was at it.

Had the evening’s events turned out to be successful for the kidnappers The Plough And The Stars may well have had a different legacy, and the life of Ireland’s first ever Oscar winner could have been altogether altered or indeed ended prematurely. So packed were their lives, this fascinating side note sadly had to be omitted from Morgan C Jones’ one man show THE QUIET MEN which tells the remarkable true life story of two of Ireland’s greatest actors, his great uncles Barry Fitzgerald (real name Will Shields) and his younger brother Arthur Shields. Between them they carved out incredible careers in Hollywood during its golden age and blazed a trail later followed by Gabriel Byrne, Brenda Fricker, Colin Farrell and Paul Mescal.