Maeve Binchy

Maeve Binchy

I am sorry to hear today of the death at the age of 72 of writer Maeve Binchy. I often met her in the 80’s upstairs in Frank Lavery’s The Fleet Bar in Dublin opposite the back door to the Irish Times where she worked. Whilst a staff writer on The Irish Times her career as a writer was taking off after her first novel in 1982, Light a Penny Candle.

Maeve was totally without pretension or airs and graces and was always the centre of the company in The Fleet. She never lost her journalistic craft whether it was observing people in a launderette or a Central Line train. She split her time between London when she married the children’s author Gordon Snell and a little kingdom south of Dublin called Dalkey.

She went onto have worldwide success with Circle of Friends which was made into an excellent movie starring Minnie Driver and much of it shot in one of Ireland’s undiscovered gems the area of South Kilkenny along the Nore River around Thomastown and Inistioge.

A journalist, short story writer and best-selling novelist, Maeve was born in Dalkey in Co Dublin and studied at UCD. She initially worked as a teacher before becoming a journalist, columnist and later women's editor at the Irish Times. She then moved to London where she continued to work for the paper. Her early short story collections were based in London and Dublin and featured sharp, funny and often poignant observations of residents of those cities. 

Her finally observed domestic literature sold well and Minding Frankie achieved critical acclaim. In her books as in life she wore her heart on her sleeve. Sometimes unfairly reviewed her books were always well crafted and her characters finely observed, she was the Godmother of Chick-Lit and generous with her time in helping others. She sold more than 40 million books worldwide.

 She was a larger than life character in every way who relished people and the hustle and bustle of existence. The world will be less colourful and slightly less jolly without her.
 

A Tale of Three Restaurants and a Hotel

Dublin's Grafton Street



The recent weekend in the Fair City will sound like a Sybarite’s Progress but basing ourselves in the South City Centre in Buswell’s Hotel it afforded an opportunity, rare for a native of the auld place like myself, to enjoy the city without the need to “get home” and absorb the urban sights and sounds in a relaxed way without any need to hit the tourist trail. So over I went from lovely London Luton airport and for my Father’s 79th Birthday I set up camp at my favourite Dublin Hotel, Buswell’s in the city centre opposite the Irish Parliament and enjoyed an excellent Birthday dinner in the Saddle Room of the Shelbourne Hotel.



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/08/dublins-fair-city.html



First up on the Friday we took the railway which is celebrating its 25th year, the DART or Dublin Area Rapid Transit from Pearse Station, formerly Westland Row. This in itself caused a slight outbreak of nostalgia on two counts. Westland Row was the terminus for the Boat Trains from the ferry at Dun Laoghaire and in its heyday was full of boarding houses, cafes and shops ministering to traveller’s needs. With the DART implementation 25 years ago and the traffic changing from passengers by rail to a Car Ferry the Boat Train (which used to go onto the pier beside the boat) stopped and Trinity College bought up the row of properties on the far side of the street so it has a somewhat sterile appearance these days compared to the hustle and bustle of yore. One of those shops was run by my Grand-Aunt Helena Nearey. When the young me was in town or going on the boat to Holyhead it was the first port of call and as she was a kindly lady I rarely came away empty handed.









St. Andrews



Beside the station is one of Dublin’s finest churches, the Episcopal Church of St. Andrews. It is the Episcopal Church because it is the personal parish church of the Catholic (Cardinal) Archbishop of Dublin and its well mannered pedimented Doric front gives little hint of the massive scale of the interior modelled on the great basilicas of northern Italy. The first major Catholic Church on a main thoroughfare in Ireland after Catholic Emancipation (i.e.; the end of vindictive religious discrimination by the British colonial power in 1829) its interior with its side chapels and adjoining structures (originally a children and old folks home and accommodation for clergy) it has played an important role in city life. It is also famous because your correspondent was baptised there as the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street where I was born was close and babies in those days were baptised quickly as dodgy Catholic Doctrine held if they died first they ended up in “Limbo.” I used to think I was special being water boarded as a 2 day old in such splendid surroundings but it turns out from the church guide that over a half a million kids have been baptised there – obviously one way tickets to Limbo were to be avoided!



So, on the splendid DART on the scenic trip along the south coast of Dublin with splendid views of the bay through Dalkey where we alighted at the next stop at Killiney. There were met by my old friend who, it occurred to me, I had first met 30 years ago. He is a true altruist and has restored the Martello Tower along with the defensive glacis, artillery battery and in a true coup de theatre has had an authentic cannon fitted to the tower and fired over the nervous neighbours!



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/07/killiney-martello-tower-no-7.html



Guinea Pig







After viewing the Tower and the superb views up and down the bay we to Dalkey and Bray Head we headed past the homes of the likes of The Edge, Bono and Enya to the old Viking village of Dalkey, itself something of Celebrity Central and our destination was the Celebs cantina the long established Guinea Pig Restaurant. This is situated in Railway Avenue but visitors alighting at the DART Station notice that the adjoining road is called “Atmospheric Avenue.” This is not a reference to the salubrious surroundings; local roads are called Sorrento and Vico because the views have been compared to the Bay of Naples, but to the fact that the original railway was an “Atmospheric Railway” where the carriages were pumped up by air pressure from Dun Laoghaire.



Opened in 1957, The Guinea Pig has become an established haunt of Dalkey locals and stars of the stage and screen. What attracts them is the timeless atmosphere and consistent good food prepared by the staff and equally courteous service. The emphasis has always been on fresh fish, some caught locally, beef and lamb from the not so distant hills of Co. Wicklow. Only a short walk from Dalkey Dart station, and therefore a pleasant 20 minute ride from the centre of Dublin the Guinea Pig along with the many other good restaurants and pubs in this attractive seaside town should be a pit stop for visitors.







The rooms manage to capture the comfortable familiarity of an old friend’s house. Seats are squishy, table decoration is unfussy and the staff are friendly without being obtrusive. We had the Early Bird menu, which at €24.50 (excluding dessert) seems a bit pricey but this has never been a cheap restaurant. For a birthday or a special occasion however, it might be worth splashing out. Though it is primarily a fish restaurant, there is a wide selection on the Early Bird menu, with eight starters and twelve mains to choose from. Our table ordered the chicken liver pate and the seafood chowder. The chowder was the best I ever had, a more luxurious offering than the name suggests with fresh seafood in a broth which was unctuous with cream, sherry and paprika. The toast for the excellent homemade pate was cold but was replaced in nano seconds when this was mentioned to the waiter. For mains the Dalkey Crab Meat with cream and cheese was served in a scallop shell but I’m not sure that the richness of sauce helped the really excellent crab meat. The Grilled Fillets of Sole with Ginger and Spring Onion were pronounced the best ever, simply grilled allowing the wonderful quality of the fresh fish to speak for itself. There was an extra change of five euro for the duck and the steak.



The desserts are presented to you on a tray but here there is a catch as they are extra on the early bird menu at 6 euros each but we settled for the selection of Irish Cheeses and Crackers and received a selection of four excellent farmhouse cheeses served with celery and small grapes. The wine was an excellent Merlot at 32 euros – wines seem expensive in Irish restaurants compared to the UK.





Dalkey



The menu choice may seem familiar, but it is the execution of the dishes which sets this restaurant apart. Portions are generous but it is the quality of the ingredients which stands out and the confident cooking which allows them to speak for themselves. This is not haute cuisine but rather reminded me of French Bistro food, good quality artisan ingredients treated simply and with respect. I had last been here 25 years ago so seeing the place again was a great pleasure and I didn’t feel strange for little has changed – the rest of Ireland may have been “interior designed” but the Guinea Pig has remained immune to faddism. Another connection with the French Bistro tradition is that the Chef Patron for the past 32 years has been Mervyn Stewart and as I remember on my last visit 25 years ago he still appears out front and visits every table. He knows his market and this is an establishment which never patronises the customer. It was good to catch up with Mervyn and swap notes on Malta which he frequently visits. He is looking unseasonably well for such a hard working chef and the Guinea Pig is very much a family restaurant with his wife and daughter keeping front of house. I suspect it won’t take another quarter of a century before my next visit!



Yamamori Noodles







Saturday night and we met up for drinks at Buswells with old buddies before heading over towards George’s Street for noodles. On the way we passed ample evidence of the nightlife which has made Dublin the 3rd most popular weekend destination in Europe with many roaming stag and Hen parties in evidence. Yamamori is a popular Japanese restaurant located a stone's throw from some of Dublin's trendier pubs such as the Globe and Hogan's. It's a bright, airy and well-decorated affair, with large windows looking out onto South Great Georges Street. The food is hardly adventurous given Japanese standards, but always reliable, and with sushi, teriyaki and a variety of Japanese beers on the menu, it's an ideal spot for an early dinner. Yamamori also has a lunch menu with a range of noodle dishes that are certainly good value for money.







Yamamori Noodles is one of the most established Japanese noodle restaurants in Dublin and South Great George’s Street has over the years transformed itself from a retail graveyard to a hopping restaurant and nightlife area. Experts in Japanese cuisine and sushi, this Dublin restaurant offers a thorough Japanese menu. The atmosphere is very authentic and service is always fast. Well-known to be one of Dublin's busiest restaurants, Yamamori Noodles popularity is due to the quality and selection of food available. The menu contains enormous variety from Sushi and Sashimi to Teppanyaki to Tempura and Ramen. The side dishes are include authentic popular Japanese snacks including delicious Ebi Gyoza which is a finely chopped king prawn dumpling combined with pak choi, leek, spring onion, garlic and ginger, oyster sauce, dipping sauce.







Lunch is served at Yamamori from 12.30am onwards seven days a week. Dinner begins at 5.30pm and runs through until 11.30pm. The restaurant is pleasantly decorated in traditional Japanese style. Hanging lanterns, white pillared walls and large solid tables inlaid with tiles enhance the authentic atmosphere.



We arrived late with one of our party having rejected Wagamama’s due to its clinical décor. As we needed a table for six we had to wait a while as this was full restaurant but we were quickly given drinks from the bar until a table was free. Food was slow coming and it occurred to me that this was very different from the normal UK Noodle Bar operation with a far longer menu incorporating Bento and Sushi dishes as well as the usual noodle and rice dishes. Whilst a commendable choice is offered the flip side is slow service when the kitchen is under pressure. However when the food came it was a cut above the usual with excellent ingredients and execution and generous portions. My vegan friend pronounced the tofu starter the best he has had for a long time and my Chilli Chicken really hit the spot. Yamamori also offers authentic Japanese deserts including green tea ice cream. There was no rush and it was over 1 O’clock in the morning when we left happily. For six people with deserts and several drinks the bill was 181 euros.



The Saddle Room at the Shelbourne Hotel







The resurgent and expensively refurbished Old Lady of St Stephen’s Green has got the restaurant it long deserved, serving modern 5 star hotel fare of the highest order. This historical hotel has been a landmark in Dublin city for generations, going back as far as 1824. History was made here when the Irish Constitution was drafted in 1922 under the chairmanship of Michael Collins. It has seen countless famous names from throughout the globe coming through its doors, and for Dubliners it has been their favourite hotel for decades. I used to meet friends in the popular Horseshoe Bar, and also enjoyed occasional afternoon tea in the Lord Mayor’s Lounge for a treat. We loved the new look Shelbourne Hotel – same address on St Stephen’s Green, but when you walk through the revolving door there is a new sense of space and light, sparkling chandeliers and decorative stained glass. Gone is the central elevator giving way to the original grand sweeping staircase, and The Horseshoe Bar, The Lord Mayor’s Lounge and The Constitution Room have all been restored while the new restaurant, The Saddle Room and No. 27 Bar & Lounge have been added.









Horseshoe Bar



Instead of being tucked away in a corner like its predecessor, the new Saddle Room is rightly given pride of place in the entrance foyer of the hotel, right opposite the front door. It presents a dramatic façade, as just beyond the entrance bar is a dramatic marbled Seafood Bar which leads to the dark-mahogany panelled main dining room with rows of lavishly furnished banquettes along the walls framing the open plan kitchen where you can watch Executive Chef and his team strutting their stuff as they prepare your meal. This was a special occasion being the other Mr. C’s 79th birthday and the saddle Room offers pizzazz by the bucket load for special occasions, and at an exceptionally reasonable price for the quality of the location, service and above all food.





Seafood Bar



The Saddle Room keeps the cooking simple, using only a handful of ingredients and relying on the freshness and quality of the raw materials to make the dishes sing. Beautifully cooked, tender and flavour-filled steaks and sparklingly fresh fish are staples here, and the service is expert and discreet. When full, the Saddle Room has the really buzzy atmosphere of a gentlemen’s club, but with Premier League food instead of the nursery pap usually favoured by clubbable gentlemen. As it was their 185th Birthday they were offering an Early Bird Menu of two courses for 18.50 euros and three courses for 24.50.





Happy 79th Birthday!



When I enquired earlier I was made very welcome and was booked into a luxurious banquette in gold leather which would be accessible to my parents. Unprompted they also said they would bring out a plate of homemade sweets after the meal to celebrate my Dad’s 79th. We were warmly welcomed when we arrived having first treated ourselves to a pre-prandial libation in the famous Horseshoe Bar. I can honestly say the service, presentation and food was of the highest order and more than met my special occasion expectations.







I had King Crab Risotto as a starter which was just right whilst her indoors enjoyed a well considered Parma Ham with fresh figs and a port sauce. The elder Mr. C ordered a warm salad of Chicken Liver with smoked bacon and a poached egg and the absence of left overs was most eloquent.







For mains my Confit of Duck on a Cassolette of white Coco Beans with garlic sausage was superb and her indoors pronounced the pan fried fillet of sea Bass on fettuccine with brown shrimp, cucumber and a white wine veloute was to die for. The elder lemons were equally happy with their mains of Seared Organic Salmon and Braised Irish Beef. When the elder Mrs. C saw her desert of Pavlova with Lime Mascarpone with balsamic and peppered strawberries her eyes lit up and for me the warm bread and butter pudding with pear puree and Crème Anglaise was just so! Then the coup de theatre as the plate of hand made sweets was served with coffees with “Happy 79th Birthday” piped in chocolate on the rim. Great venue, great service and top food at a reasonable price – With wine coffees and water the bill was a highly reasonable 137 euros for a five star experience for four people.





Buswell’s Hotel







Buswells has been operating since 1882 and is an elegant 3 star hotel with special character in the heart of Dublin 2. A charming 67-bedroom Georgian hotel, it is ideally located in the centre of Dublin city a short stroll from St. Stephen’s Green, Trinity College, Grafton Street and many other visitor attractions and near to the DART at Westland Row and the LUAS (Tram) terminal at St. Stephen’s Green.



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/07/tale-of-two-parks.html





Room



Strangely, whilst I have long recommended it to friends and whilst the present wife and her sister have stayed there this was my first time there as a resident. That is not to say that the place is unknown to me. The bar had Adam style plaster swags painted blue and white and used to be known as the “Wedgwood Bar.” Many years ago in the company of a leading Irish feminist I had bumped into the Northern Ireland poet Michael Longley and his poetess wife Edna who were staying in the hotel. Michael had just won the GPA poetry prize and with the winners cheque in his pocket was in expansive and generous form, from what I could vaguely recall the next day! The bar and restaurant are today called Truman’s after an adjoining print and drawing instrument shop which I was a customer of as a young architectural student. When it closed down in 1975 Buswell’s bought the property and incorporated it into the hotel and as Secretary of the Student Union at Bolton Street I bought most of their stock for our Student Shop.



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/08/bob-geldof-and-me.html



Being across from the Irish Parliament it had an erstwhile reputation as a late night drinking den for politicos leading to the story about a conversation between a policeman who raided the premises at 3 in the morning and encountered the then Minister for Justice (and later Prime Minister) Charles J Haughey “What will it be for you Guard, a pint of Guinness or a transfer to Donegal?”





Truman's Bar



This is a good hotel in a great location, very close to Grafton Street, Trinity College and the National Museums. Our room was spacious with high ceilings and throughout the décor and furnishings were of a good quality and fresh. The Bathroom and shower were excellent if compact. The bar was good with helpful and obliging service but here and in the lounge you could just sit and relax with no pressure to order anything. We only had breakfast on the last morning (when my parents stayed and this is taken in the rather splendidly upholstered Truman’s Restaurant. It was as good as I’ve seen anywhere with a really excellent selection of juices, cereals, breads (including Irish soda bread) meats and cheeses from a buffet counter with the hot Irish Breakfast, toast and generous pots of tea and coffee served at the linen covered table.





Truman's Restaurant



Last year when my wife and sister in law wanted to stay Buswell’s quoted 245 euros a night. Well this is far too much (you could stay in the Shelbourne for this) but what a difference a year makes as I got the rooms on their site on the internet for 89 to 99 euros a night. Don’t pay extra when booking for breakfast because they price this separately at 20 euros a night (A Mercure Hotel in Paris charges 15 euros!) but we were offered “any breakfast” at the desk at a more reasonable 10 euros. The hotel needs to get its pricing realistic and consistent. The other thing to remember is that as this hotel incorporates four different Georgian buildings so room sizes vary and the dovetailing of bathrooms into the structure doesn’t always make for good sound insulation. Also, being in the centre street noise is unavoidable but we found by closing the windows, including the secondary glazing, the room was quiet. Also as these are Georgian buildings don’t expect aircon, but really you don’t need this in Dublin.









Lounge



This is a well managed property with well trained and friendly staff who really make a difference and I would single out Mary on reception and Clive the Concierge but most of the staff have been here a while and this continuity makes a difference. If you want a personal hotel with a country house athmosphere in a great location Buswell’s is a good deal. Or as the elder Mr C put it as he was reading the complimentary newspaper in his adopted armchair in the relaxing lounge “I could get used to this.”



Guinea Pig



17 Railway Road, Dalkey, Co. Dublin, Ireland Phone: +353 (0)1 285-9055



http://www.guineapig.dalkey.info



Yamamori Noodles



71/72, South Great George’s Street, Dublin, 2, Ireland Phone: +353 (0)1 475-5001



http://www.yamamorinoodles.ie/



The Saddle Room, The Shelbourne Hotel,



27, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin, 2, Ireland Phone: +353 (0)1 663-4500



http://www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/hotel-information/restaurant/dubbr-the-shelbourne-dublin-a-renaissance-hotel/



Buswell’s Hotel



26 Molesworth St, Dublin 2, Ireland Phone; +353 (0)1 614 6500



http://www.buswells.ie/





A scene in front of Buswell's

Jack Keyes T/A Hugh Leonard

Hugh Leonard

Jack Keyes trading as Hugh Leonard was the title on the VAT file which crossed my desk many years ago when I was an Irish Civil servant. For Ireland’s foremost playwright used the nom de plume of Hugh Leonard originally to hide his writing from his Civil Service bosses but he was born John Keyes Byrne on November 9, 1926. He died in Dublin recently on February 12, 2009, aged 82. The accountant’s firm handling his VAT affairs was Russell Murphy & Co. who had many high profile artists and writers on their books. They were (and still are) covered by a “creative writing “exemption in the Irish Income Tax code which meant their royalties from creative writing were tax free. Russell Murphy wrongly advised his clients who benefited from this generous exemption that they were also exempt from VAT and such were his high level connections that the Irish Tax Authorities disgracefully on “a concessional basis” wrote off over four years VAT just from his clients.

For Russell Murphy was well connected being a Governor of the Bank of Ireland and on the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. He was a patron of the arts and his artistic clients revelled in his eccentricity including wearing a cloak with a red silk lining and on occasion being greeted by the sight of him hiding under his desk when they went into his office. The full extent of his eccentricity was exposed when he committed suicide a couple of years later in 1986 and it was found many of these high profile clients had invested money with him which had disappeared, Hugh Leonard lost over a million pounds and the broadcaster Gay Byrne a similar amount. They both took a High Court case against the Irish Institute of Chartered Accountants but, such is the quality of professional supervision in Ireland, they never received any compensation. This is the same Institute which didn’t feel the need to expel another high profile member, former Prime Minister and Chartered Accountant, Charles Haughey, even though he hadn’t paid a subscription for 22 years and had financed his millionaire lifestyle with over £8.5 million pounds of undeclared backhanders on which he hadn’t paid tax.

Hugh Leonard rose from humble beginnings as an adopted child to become one of Ireland’s foremost dramatists, a writer who discovered his talent for biting wit during the drudgery of clerking for the Land Commission, and, helped by television and film earnings, graduated from an Aston Martin to a Rolls-Royce and a boat on the Shannon.




Da

His most successful play, which earned him a reputed £500,000, was the autobiographical Da, a triumph in Dublin and New York, and later made into a film. But — and this was to be a constant theme in Leonard’s career — it made little impact in London. He pretended indifference to being snubbed by Shaftesbury Avenue, resigning himself to the British perception of Irish plays: “Our image is trouble, and who wants to pay good money for that?” His first West End venture, Stephen D, an adaptation of James Joyce’s Portrait of an Artist, had a success he was never to repeat. This brilliantly stage worthy rendering told how Joyce escaped from the ties of religion and country to call his soul his own, hammering out in words of iron his sense of identity and direction. Leonard was to achieve a similar escape.

The West End debut of his farce The Patrick Pearse Motel in 1971 nailed his strengths and weaknesses. He peopled his Feydeau-like rendezvous not with the cut-out dudes, oafs and termagants of farce, but with sharply observed contemporaries, such as the couple who patched up a cracking marriage by loading their house with costly gadgets. But in interrupting the rat-tat-tat of disaster upon disaster in order to develop character, he forgot the farceur’s obligation to be a sharpshooter. So in London the play failed, whereas in Dublin it had delighted a less impatient audience.

Born John Keyes Byrne in Dublin in 1926, and always known as Jack, he was brought up by foster-parents in a tense, bullying, guilt-ridden household where he learnt that “love upside-down is love for all that.” In his book, Home Before Dark, he described growing up in the Dublin of the 1930s as the adopted son of the gentle day-labourer Da portrayed in his play, a sweet old nobody exasperatingly contented with his lot who fought a fiercely proud wife with enough foolish stratagems to drive a saint to drink.



By way of scholarship and a religious schooling at Presentation College, Dun Laoghaire, Leonard wheedled himself into the Irish civil service, having meanwhile indulged his love of cinema by appearing as an extra in Laurence Olivier’s Henry V, which was filmed in Ireland. During his stint as a civil servant he began writing plays for amateurs and in 1956 The Big Birthday was his first work to be staged at the Abbey Theatre.

Further plays and a version of The Archers for commercial radio (geared to advertise Cadbury’s) enabled him to leave the civil service and become a full-time writer. In 1961 he joined Granada Television in Manchester as a script editor but he preferred writing for himself and soon moved to London as a freelance. He lived in England for some years until tax concessions drew him back to Ireland and his roots.
His expertise as an adaptor, confirmed by Stephen D, also served him well in television for which he produced skilful versions of Great Expectations, Nicholas Nickleby, Dombey and Son, The Moonstone and Wuthering Heights as well as tackling Irish subjects in James Plunkett’s Strumpet City (1980) and The Irish RM (1983) from the stories of Somerville and Ross.


Home before Night

He also adapted Chesterton’s Father Brown stories and Norman Collins’s London Belongs to Me, wrote comedy material for Ronnie Barker and created a deliciously quirky situation comedy, Me Mammy (1968-71), which starred Milo O’Shea as an Irishman in London, successful in business but still a bachelor and under the thumb of his fiercely traditional Roman Catholic mother. For the cinema he adapted Shaw’s Great Catherine (1968), with Jeanne Moreau and Peter O’Toole and his own Da (1988).
But despite this prolific output for the small and big sceen he never abandoned the theatre and during 1976-77 he served as the Abbey’s literary manager. Notable Dublin productions included the comedies Summer and Time Was and in 1978 Da went to Broadway, where it won a Tony award. Two other plays, The Au Pair Man and A Life were nominated for Tonys and it was with the latter that Leonard wrote his masterpiece. The ingeniously structured play switched back and forth in time to show four young hopefuls in their 20s and the life-worn but mettlesome folk they matured into.

The comic hassles and bitter misunderstandings between the tough older folk were seen as the outcome of the foolish passions of themselves when young. The play also contrasted the stiff pedant the giddy girl had rejected — at whose funeral, he admits, “the only mourners will be a group of unsplit infinitives” — and the warm-hearted chump she preferred, a lusty incorrigible who sees the world through a Guinness darkly but sees it whole.

He was a notable dramatist and a very successful television scriptwriter, but he always saw himself as an outsider among his peers and was quick to take offence at perceived slights from critics or fellow playwrights. Indeed, in his long-running 'Sunday Independent' column (and before that in 'Hibernia' magazine), he was adept both at settling old scores and in making new enemies.

"A literary movement in Ireland," he once quipped, "is two writers on speaking terms with each other." He chuckled as he said it, though he was keenly aware of the personal truth behind the jibe, given that he always felt distant from, and wary of, most of his writing contemporaries. Indeed, although his plays brought him considerable popular and commercial success, he was never granted the esteem that was routinely enjoyed by Brian Friel and Tom Murphy.


Dalkey Main Street

In his later years Leonard lived contentedly in Dalkey, continued to write plays for the Dublin Festival, hob-nobbing at night over a jar with folk he had known all his life. The hack work behind him, his writing became informed with a canny awareness of the sad complexities of life and the warmth that came from his ability to enjoy people of every kind for what they were. With his quick dry wit he contributed a weekly satirical column to the Sunday Independent and had his own regular Saturday morning radio show.

The violence, the fecklessness, the charm and that peculiar Irish blend of arrogance and sweetness in his countrymen were studied by Leonard with a humanity which ranks his later work with the best of his time. Mischievously, Leonard would sometimes exploit the naivety and ignorance of his people, spinning tall yarns and building up mad aunts and fiery schoolmasters and priests into entertaining but incredible grotesques. But his best work is alive with delectable Dublin characters as well as domestic horrors. He took delight in debunking the mealy-mouthed primness and excessive religiosity of a country quick to put respectability before humanity. Paule Jacquet, his wife of 45 years, died in 2000. He is survived by Kathy Hayes, his second wife, and by his daughter from his first marriage.

I will remember Jack Keyes t/a Hugh Leonard above all not for the quality of his vitriol but for his honesty and integrity. That is not to discount the quality of his vitriol for as Brian Behan once remarked “he was a man without enemies, it is his friends who hate him!” Brian had been upset by Leonard describing his brother, the playwright Brendan Behan, as a second rate talent rescued by Joan Littlewood’s editing. But in an Ireland where there was tacit support for violent republicanism only Conor Cruise O’Brien and Hugh Leonard consistently spoke out against the crypto-fascism of the Provos when such sentiments were far from mainstream. Indeed Hugh Leonard’s vitriol against Charles Haughey was a persistent theme of his Sunday Independent column and for his New Year Awards each year Haughey invariably was awarded the “Gobshite of the Year” award. The only exception was the year Haughey nearly drowned when his trawler Yacht went aground on the south coast of Ireland. That year Haughey was awarded the “Sailor of the Year” award and the “Gobshite of the Year” went to God for not taking his chance when he had it! An honest voice who no doubt at this very moment is causing an argument in heaven.


Dalkey