THE literary legacy of Belfast-born novelist and screenwriter Brian Moore has been celebrated in his home city.
Regarded as an outstanding Irish writer of the late 20th century, short-listed three times for the Booker Prize, Moore was honoured with an Ulster History Circle blue plaque.
Members of the late writer's family and friends were among those who gathered for the unveiling at the corner of Henry Place and Clifton Street in Belfast.
Erected close to where Moore was born in 1921, the plaque was unveiled by Belfast lord mayor Tina Black.
Educated at St Malachy’s College, Moore volunteered as an air raid warden during the Second World War before serving with the British Transport Division in North Africa, Italy and France.
He left Belfast in 1948 and travelled to Canada before finally settling in America.
He turned to full-time writing and his first novel, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, was published in 1955. Set in Belfast, it tells the story of an ageing, lonely spinster sinking towards emotional poverty.
It brought him to the attention of the literary world and the novel was made into a film in 1987, starring Dame Maggie Smith.
Known for writing about many wide-ranging subjects with great ease and authority, a literary critic once said of Moore: 'No writer has captured Belfast as brilliantly as he did in his early novels'.
He wove his memories of Belfast into the characters he created and in the intervening years until his premature death in January 1999, he wrote 20 critically acclaimed novels such as his first thriller, Lies of Silence, The Colour of Blood and I am Mary Dunne.
Moore also wrote a number of screenplays, including Hitchcock’s 1966 film, The Torn Curtain, and the widely admired television film, Catholics based on his book of the same name.
One of his last pieces of writing, The Statement was a tense thriller.
During his lifetime, Moore won many awards and accolades and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Queen’s University Belfast in 1987.
He never forgot his Irish roots nor Belfast and returned frequently.
Chris Spurr, chairman of the Ulster History Circle, said: "Brian Moore is acclaimed as an outstanding Irish writer of the late twentieth century, renowned for his mastery of the contemporary novel.
"The Ulster History Circle is delighted to commemorate this distinguished novelist and screenwriter with a blue plaque, and the Circle is particularly grateful to Belfast City Council for their financial support, and to Clifton Street Surgery and St. Patrick’s Parish for their valued assistance."
