Pádraic Colum (8 December 1881 – 11 January 1972) was an Irish writer. He wrote poetry, long made-up stories, plays, true stories about the lives of people who made big changes in the world, and stories for children. He also wrote down stories other people told, if the stories were so old that nobody knew who told them the very first time. He was one of the Irish writers who were part of the Irish Literary Revival. This was a time when many very good Irish writers all wrote lots of stories and poems that were full of big important thoughts. It happened near the end of the 19th century and near the start of the 20th century.