Making History (play)

Making History is a play written by Irish playwright Brian Friel in 1988, premiered at the Guildhall, Derry on 20 September 1988. It focuses on the life of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, who led a combined Irish-Spanish alliance against the English during the Nine Years' War. The play is set before and after the Battle of Kinsale. The battle does not directly feature in the play, although it is central to the plot.

The play's other main theme is O'Neill's unexpected third marriage to the much younger, English-born  Mabel Bagenal, daughter and sister of  two of his most implacable enemies, which the play presents as a genuine though ill-fated love marriage.

Characters
In its original production, O'Neill was portrayed by Stephen Rea, and Lombard by Niall Tóibín. Clare Holman and Emma Dewhurst respectively played Mabel Bagenal and her sister Mary.
 * Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone
 * Hugh O'Donnell, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell
 * Hugh Roe O'Donnell, Lord of Tyrconnell
 * Harry Hovenden, private secretary to O'Neill
 * Peter Lombard, Catholic Archbishop of Armagh
 * Mabel Bagenal, third wife of the O'Neill and daughter of Nicholas Bagenal
 * Mary Bagenal (later Mary Barnewall), her sister