The Ulster Literary Theatre was a theatre company in Ulster (Ireland, now also Northern Ireland) from 1904 to 1934. It had a differently named precursor in 1902, and by 1915 it was named just the Ulster Theatre. It was founded by Bulmer Hobson and David Parkhill with patronage from Francis Joseph Bigger, who was also its first president. History Precursor: The Ulster Branch of the Irish Literary Theatre in 1902 Originally, Hobson and Parkhill envisaged an "Ulster branch" of W. B. Yeats' Irish Literary Theatre in Dublin, the pair having travelled to Dublin to see it in early 1902. They put on two plays as the "Ulster branch" in 1902 in St Mary's Minor Hall in Ulster. Yeats was not involved in these productions, nor (according to Hobson) gave them any encouragement; and the involvement of the Irish Literary Theatre was largely limited to two of its performers, Dudley Diggs and Maire T. Quinn, travelling from Dublin to perform in Yeats' Cathleen ni Houlihan and James Cousins' The Racing Lug. Hobson and Parkhill actually put on Yeats' play without direct permission from Yeats, instead obtaining it from Maud Gonne who assured them that "He wrote that play for me and he gave it to me. It is mine and you can put it on whenever you want to." The lack of encouragement from Yeats, according to anecdote, caused Hobson to remark upon the return journey from Dublin to Belfast after having visited him "Damn Yeats! We'll write our own plays!". This first production did not translate well to Ulster audiences, and the original plan of an eventual federation across the country linked back to the Irish Literary Theatre, failed. Gerald McNamara, later a playwright for the theatre, observed in particular about the central character of Yeats' play that "Ninety-nine percent of the population had never heard of the lady – and cared less.". There were, moreover, complaints from the secretary of the Irish Literary Theatre, George Roberts, about the unauthorized use of its name, accompanied by requests for royalties to be paid on Yeats' play. Foundation in 1904 So Hobson and Parkhill founded the Ulster Literary Theatre in 1904, with plays from others including several by Parkhill, who wrote under the pseudonym Lewis Purcell, and with the goal of having its own distinct identity rather than being an offshoot of the Irish Literary Theatre. The Irish News described the goal