Abbey Theatre
The Abbey Theatre was founded by W.B. Yeats and Lady Augusta Gregory in 1903. It opened its doors, however, not until December 27, 1904.
Support
Despite the financial support of Miss Annie Horniman, the Abbey was a rather small theatre with limited financial means. Therefore, it became famous for staging mainly short plays in its first years.
Irish National Theatre
In order to establish an Irish National Theatre, the main aim of the founders was to employ Irish dramatists who would stage Irish topics. Back then, as well as today, the underlying idea of the artistic work at the Abbey was/is "to bring upon stage the deeper emotions of Ireland" ([1]). W.B. Yeats claimed that up until the foundation of the Abbey Theatre Irish drama did not exist and that the "independent identity of the still-colonised people had yet to be realised on stage" (Oxford, 1). The tradition of Irish drama mainly refers back to medieval times and repeats the different steps of English dramatic history (cf. ibid.). It was Yeats' aim to achieve an "antirealist, antimodern theatre" (ibid.). The idea behind the foundation of the Irish National Theatre was to compensate for the lack of political development. The founders hoped to be able to "provide a precedent and justification for legislative independence" (ibid.).
Playwrights
Many of the playwrights who initially worked for the Abbey Theatre [could you give one or two examples??] belonged to the Protestant Ascendancy or rather, to use the vocabulary of Irish national politics, they were "strangers" (cf. ibid.).
Sources
www.abbeytheatre.ie [2]
"Abbey Theatre", The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature