Leonard was an Irish
writer, journalist and playwright, who was born in Dalkey, near Dublin in
1926. His mother was unmarried and had put
him up for adoption.
His birth name was John Joseph Byrne, and he
was known as Jack... but he was adopted by a working class couple, Nicholas and
Margaret Keyes and took their name. However
when he started writing plays, he used the name Hugh Leonard. His adoptive parents were simple people, who
had not been able to have children... and their marriage was often stormy. His father was a gardener. Jack was a bright young boy and won a scholarship
to a better school, the Presentation College, in Glasthule. He did not do that well academically there, however
and realized that he was not likely to get into one of the professions. He left school and went to work in the Irish
Civil Service. He and his friends
escaped from the narrowness of life in 1940s and 1950’s Ireland, by attending
the cinema a lot.
On joining the
Civil Service, he realized that he had walked into a trap, in that it was dull,
with few prospects, and feared that he would be stuck there “until he got the
pension”. His adoptive parents were pleased
at his getting into a middle class job, and having financial security. However Jack began to get involved in
community theatre, acting in plays and writing them. He realized that writing could become his
escape from life in the lower middle class.
In his short volumes of autobiography, he gives an amusing picture of
the Dublin theatre scene, of acting in drama groups... And of butting heads
with the members of the Catholic clergy, who were often involved with local amateur
dramatics, because it was a safe social activity for their parishioners, but
who were fierce on the subject of “immorality”. Jack disliked Irish nationalism, and was an agnostic.
He gives an account of a meeting with the flamboyant and gay actor Michael Mac
Liammoir...
He married Paule,
a Belgian lady, and they had one child, Danielle. Then after 14 years in the Civil Service, he
had had a few plays produced and got an offer from a TV company based in
Manchester. He left the job and moved to
England. He became a full time professional writer, and was one of the first
Irish writers to concentrate on TV work, adapting classic novels, writing
comedies and thrillers etc. In 1970 he
and his family re located to Dublin and he also began to write a humorous
column for the newspapers. One of his
best works was adapting James Plunkett’s novel about the 1913 Lock Out, as a TV
serial. It was a big success and started
the career of Bryan Murray; who later played “Flurry Knox” in the “Irish RM” and
Peter O’Toole played James Larkin. His
best known play “Da” bout his adoptive father, was made into a film In the 1980s.
I’ve always loved
the Hugh Leonard column, with its wit and pointed digs at his various betes
noir. He disliked the Irish broadcaster
Gay Byrne and the politician Charles J Haughey.
He was deeply hostile to the IRA. His autobiographical writings are short and I
wish he had written some more.
His plays and writing
brought him a handsome income, but he lost a good deal in the 1980s when he, together
with Gay Byrne was “ripped off” by his accountant Russell Murphy, who embezzled
money from his clients.
In 2000, his wife
Paule died of an asthma attack. He was devastated
but continued to write and work. Later,
he married a younger American woman but the marriage wasn’t a success.
He died in
2008,at the age of 82.
