James W. Flannery

In 1958 Flannery completed his undergraduate studies in music and English at Trinity College located in Hartford, CT, graduating Phi Beta Kappa.^[4] He pursued a Master of Fine Arts in acting and directing at the Yale School of Drama, graduating in 1961. He then obtained a Doctorate in English and Anglo-Irish Literature from Trinity College Dublin in 1970.^[3]

Between 1989 and 1993, Flannery held the position of executive director at the famous Abbey Theatre in Dublin, where he organized the Yeats International Theatre Festival.^[4] During each of the five years, he produced three plays by Yeats, accompanied by original music composed by Bill Whelan, who later achieved success as the composer of Riverdance.^[5] In his 2022 autobiography, The Road To Riverdance, Whelan mentions that "some members of the company found Flannery's directorial style curious, but nobody could deny his deep knowledge (and zeal) for Yeats as a playwright."^[5][6]

In 1988 Flannery founded the W.B. Yeats Foundation at Emory University.^[4] He has garnered critical acclaim for his staging and directing of the plays of Yeats in America, Canada and Ireland.^[3]

Flannery maintains that Yeats' plays sought to inspire people to live "creative and abundant lives".^[7]

He is a talented tenor and is one of the foremost interpreters of the art songs of Thomas Moore^[8] and in 1997 published a book and recording titled, Dear Harp of My Country: The Irish Melodies of Thomas Moore.^[9]

He was a visiting professor at the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland in 2000 and 2001.^[3]

In 2010 he was named an International Associate Artist at the Abbey Theatre.^[10]

He married Ildiko Elizabeth Pokoly in 1964.^[11]