The drunkard

Edward Kilcullen is the disinherited son of a local landowner, whose legacy is reduced to one small cottage, in which live his newly acquired tenants, Anabella and her mother, both almost totally penniless. Edward and Annabella fall in love and marry, but this is not enough to cure Edward of the flaw that he believes may have led to his disinheritance: drunkenness. In fact, the evil spirit that pursues him is not drink but McGinty, the lawyer who served Edward's father. 'The Drunkard' is an adaptation of a 19th century play written by the pseudonymous authors 'W. H. Smith and a gentleman', the latter believed by many to be P. T. Barnum. Murphy's adaptation was premiered at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway, in 2003.