Padraic Colum he became involved with the National Theatre Society and became involved in the founding of the Abbey Theatre, writing several of its early productions. His first play, "Broken Soil" (revised as The Fiddler's House) (1903) was performed by W. G. Fay's Irish National Dramatic Company. "The Land" (1905), was one of that theatre's first great public successes. He wrote another important play for the Abbey named "Thomas Muskerry" (1910). His earliest published poems appeared in "The United Irishman", a paper edited by Arthur Griffith. His first book, "Wild Earth" (1907) collected many of these poems and was dedicated to Æ.
W. B. Yeats the letters of congratulations sent to him contained the words: "I consider that this honour has come to me less as an individual than as a representative of Irish literature, it is part of Europe's welcome to the Free State." Yeats used the occasion of his acceptance lecture at the Royal Academy of Sweden to present himself as a standard-bearer of Irish nationalism and Irish cultural independence. As he remarked, "The theatres of Dublin were empty buildings hired by the English traveling companies, and we wanted Irish plays and Irish players. When we thought of these plays we thought of