This introductory chapter provides an overview of the history of Irish women playwrights, highlighting their major contributions since the 1700s and examining the contemporary landscape of Irish theatre production. We argue that women have always been significant players in Irish theatre but have been excluded from the canon due to their disproportionate lack of productions, revivals, and publication – three processes that we explore in depth. Finally, we outline the scope of the collections’ two volumes, which attempt to re-introduce women’s playwriting into the canon as a political act of reclamation.