Ballybeg (fictional town)

For other uses, see Ballybeg.

Ballybeg, an anglicisation of the Irish language name Baile Beag (IPA: [bˠalˠə bʲɔɡ]) meaning "Little Town", is a fictional town in which Irish playwright Brian Friel set many of his works.^[1] Several of Friel's plays, including Philadelphia Here I Come!, Translations and Dancing at Lughnasa, are set in the fictional County Donegal town.^[2][3][4] Friel's Ballybeg is partially based on the real village of Glenties, close to where he lived.^[5][6]

References

1. McKeone, Gary (2 October 2015). "Brian Friel revealed Ireland, past and present, to itself". theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
2. Nightingale, Benedict (23 February 2009). "Brian Friel's letters from an internal exile". The Times. Brian Friel's Ballybeg - originally known in Gaelic as baile beag or "small town" - has known troubles galore^{[dead link‍]}
3. O'Kelly, Emer (6 September 2009). "Friel's deep furrow cuts to our heart". Sunday Independent. Ireland possesses the universal voice as far as Friel is concerned. He does not look beyond, and forges the steel of human experience in a place called Ballybeg
4. McElroy, Steven (21 January 2007). "The Week Ahead: Jan. 21 - 27". The New York Times. In the fictional town of Ballybeg in 1833, the British are remapping and renaming every hill and dale with English words, thus declaring ownership of the land while simultaneously treading on national pride
5. Mulholland, Joe (3 October 2015). "'Glenties is the stage': Brian Friel's Donegal". irishtimes.com. Irish Times. Retrieved 18 October 2019. Glenties, in fact, offered [Friel] everything he needed to create an baile beag – Ballybeg
6. Muir, Marie-Louise (15 December 2015). "The Irish Chekhov". bbc.com. BBC. Retrieved 18 October 2019. the small Donegal town of Glenties became his spiritual home and inspired the fictional Ballybeg, the setting for 14 of his plays and now as famous in global theatrical history as Chekhov's provincial Russia^{[permanent dead link‍]}