Edward Martyn is remembered for his association with the Irish Literary Theatre (1899-1901), which he founded along with Lady Gregory, William Butler Yeats, and George Moore. This theater, established primarily to provide a platform for the works of serious native dramatists, was forerunner of the important Abbey Theatre, where the careers of John Millington Synge and Sean O'Casey were fostered. Martyn's own career as a dramatist was not illustrious; only one of his plays, The Heather Field (1899), has earned enduring critical plaudits. Nevertheless, his plays remain notable for historical reasons, as precocious attempts to apply Ibsenian technique to Irish subject matter, and as lively satires directed against his flamboyant literary colleagues. Historians of the Irish literary renaissance commend Martyn for being one of the first Irish critics to champion Ibsen in Ireland. Martyn's promotion of amateur theaters later in his career helped discourage the Irish dramatic movement from...