Featherstone, was also Irish. They were wretchedly poor, and the whole family—three brothers and two sisters—were all called upon to play various parts in the plays presented. Eliza's first appearance was when she was carried on the stage in her father's arms. The company alternated between Drogheda and Dundalk. The Drogheda Theatre was a ramshackle, tumble-down building, just outside the town, and the Dundalk Theatre was in the Brewhouse. In those days, when travelling was difficult and expensive, people had to rely on provincial talent. Small towns could not have star companies from London with the latest novelty in comic operas. Theatre-goers—and what true Irish person is not a theatre-goer?—were compelled to patronise native talent, and the growth was sometimes surprisingly good. The shifts that the luckless stage manager had to make in order to cover the deficiencies of scenery and dresses were often ludicrous.
Mr. O'Neill had a brogue, to use the common expression, "so thick that you could cut it." He was fond of boasting of his illustrious descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages, Monarch of Ireland in the fourth century. When he went round the houses of the neighbouring gentry to ask for a bespeak night, he was always invited to take a seat and a glass of wine, if not "a drop of the crather," which was never declined.
