McAleese and Cowen pay tribute to 'curmudgeon' playwright

President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Brian Cowen have paid tribute to playwright and self-styled curmudgeon Hugh Leonard.

President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Brian Cowen have today paid tribute to playwright and self-styled curmudgeon Hugh Leonard.

Born John Keyes Byrne in 1926, the award-winning writer died at his home in Dalkey, Co Dublin today after a long illness.

Renowned for his modern adaptation of old classics and his long-running column in the Sunday Independent, he was honoured with a Tony Award for one of his most famous plays, Da, in 1977.

President McAleese, who was friends with Leonard over the last 30 years, said she felt privileged to know him.

"It is with great sadness that I have learned of the death of Hugh Leonard, one of Ireland's most gifted writers and thinkers, a fascinating man," she said.

"As a playwright, journalist and radio contributor, Hugh infused his work with a unique wit, all the while demonstrating a great intuition, perceptiveness and forgiveness of human nature.

"Hugh will be greatly missed by all who had the pleasure of his company and counsel throughout the years."

Leonard, who was adopted, grew up in Dalkey and was educated at the Harold Boys' National School, Dalkey, and Presentation College, Glasthule.

His most famous play, 'Da', ran for two years on Broadway and he also had successes on the New York stage with 'The Au Pair Man', and 'A Life'.

Leonard began using his pseudonym while a civil servant in the 1950s to keep his writing from his bosses and after his first play 'The Italian Road' was rejected by the Abbey Theatre.

The Taoiseach extended his sympathies to Leonard's friends and family and said he would be remembered as a great literary figure of modern Ireland.

"He was one of this country's most distinguished playwrights as well as being a journalist of distinction," the Taoiseach said.

"Hugh Leonard was a man of strong views and great wit and these traits were reflected in his writings. His Curmudgeon column which ran for many years in the Sunday Independent was required reading and was always guaranteed to raise a smile.

"In his plays, Hugh was often provocative and he was never afraid to challenge the orthodoxies of the day. He was also a versatile writer with a great sense of history."

The Taoiseach paid tribute to Leonard's works including the best-selling fictional account of Charles Stewart Parnell's life and Insurrection, the 1916 commemorative series written to mark the 50th anniversary of the Rising.

Mr Cowen said the work did much to shape understanding of the birth of our nation for a new generation.

Martin Cullen, Arts Minister, said: "Hugh Leonard's legacy is immense. As a storyteller he was creative and compelling. As an individual he was honest, engaging, with a sharp wit and an enquiring mind.

"His plays in particular evoked a sense of nostalgia and of the triumph of the human spirit."

Mr Cullen added: "Ireland will truly miss its beloved 'curmudgeon'."