William Butler is the first and the middle name of the Irish poet W.B. Yeats. He was one of the key people involved in the formation of the Abbey Theatre, which is known as Ireland’s national theatre. His 1923 Nobel Prize win was a first for an Irish in Literature and his reply to the letters of congratulations included the words – “I consider that this honour has come to me less as an individual than as a representative of Irish literature, it is part of Europe’s welcome to the Free State.” Irish Free State was formed in 1922.
