Ireland

Tributes to Irish playwright Eugene McCabe following death at 90

Tributes have been paid to Irish playwright Eugene McCabe, who has died at the age of 90. Picture: Bobbie Hanvey/Boston College
Tributes have been paid to Irish playwright Eugene McCabe, who has died at the age of 90. Picture: Bobbie Hanvey/Boston College Tributes have been paid to Irish playwright Eugene McCabe, who has died at the age of 90. Picture: Bobbie Hanvey/Boston College

IRISH playwright Eugene McCabe, who has died at the age of 90, has been remembered as a "master storyteller".

Born in Glasgow in 1930 to Irish parents, he came to Ireland with his family in the early 1940s, growing up in Clones, Co Monaghan.

He was one of Ireland's top contemporary writers and his canon included his first play to meet with success, King Of The Castle, which won an Irish Life Theatre Award in 1964.

His 1992 novel Death And Nightingales was regarded by many as a contemporary classic and was recently adapted for television by BBC Two.

Mr McCabe received the Legum Doctorate from University of Prince Edward Island, Canada, in 1990 and the Butler Literary Award for Prose from Irish American Cultural Institute in 2002.

He was also a member of Aosdána, an Irish association of artists.

President Michael D Higgins said the writer's "considerable skill as a storyteller was applied in a wide variety of styles and genres, be it novels, short stories, plays or writing for children.

"He explored complex themes, including the legacy of colonialism and the hatred inherent in sectarianism," he said.

"Like few others, Eugene McCabe was able to capture the complexity of differing viewpoints, and particularly of those confronted with bigotry and fundamentalism."

The president added: "The world of Irish theatre has lost someone who was a powerful and original contributor to Irish letters".

Catherine Martin, Irish Arts Minister, described Eugene McCabe as a master storyteller and dramatist.

"While he produced a great volume of literary works, he will probably be best remembered for his trilogy of plays which he wrote in the early 70s based on the differing traditions in Northern Ireland," she said.

"These plays received critical acclaim and were produced and screened by RTE in 1973."

Mr McCabe is survived by his wife Margot, his children, Ruth, Marcus, Patrick and Stephen and his 13 grandchildren.