Mary Colum Mary Colum Mary Colum (née Maguire, June 14, 1884 – October 22, 1957) was an Irish literary critic and author, who also co-founded a literary journal. Mary Gunning Maguire was born in Collooney, County Sligo, daughter of Charles Maguire and Catherine Gunning. Her mother died in 1895, leaving her to be reared by her grandmother Catherine in Ballisodare, County Sligo. She attended boarding school in St. Louis' Convent, Monaghan. Educated at Royal University, Trinity she was founder of the Twilight Literary Society which led her to meet W. B. Yeats. She regularly attended the Abbey Theatre and was a frequent
W. B. Yeats Nobel Prize in Literature. William Butler Yeats was born at Sandymount in County Dublin, Ireland. His father, John Butler Yeats (1839–1922), was a descendant of Jervis Yeats, a Williamite soldier, linen merchant, and well-known painter who died in 1712. Benjamin Yeats, Jervis's grandson and William's great-great-grandfather, had in 1773 married Mary Butler of a landed family in County Kildare. Following their marriage, they kept the name Butler. Mary was a descendant of the Butler of Ormond family from the Neigham (pronounced Nyam) Gowran branch. By his marriage, William's father John Yeats was studying law but abandoned his studies to study