O'Casey was born John Casey on March 30, 1880, in Dublin, Ireland. The youngest of eight children, O'Casey is one of the five that survived past early childhood. O'Casey's father died when the author was only six years old, creating large financial problems for the rest of the family. Due to these circumstances, as well as a childhood eye disease that affected his vision throughout his life, O'Casey received very little formal schooling. Despite his eye condition, however, the author began in his early teens to teach himself to read, and he read Shakespeare and other classics. At the age of fourteen, he also began to work various odd jobs, including clerical positions and manual labor, although he also spent long periods of time unemployed. From 1901 to 1911, O'Casey worked for the Great Northern Railway of Ireland. During the same time period, he renounced his Protestant faith and became...