Gary Lydon

His big break on stage occurred in The Wexford Trilogy by Billy Roche at the Wexford Arts Centre in the late 1980s. One of the plays, A Handful of Stars, later came to the Bush Theatre in London. He worked with Roche on a number of occasions, the writer once referring to him as “my Robert De Niro”. They were friends for more than 40 years, and Lydon recently appeared in Roche’s latest play, Of Mornington, playing a has-been snooker ace looking to make a comeback. Lydon’s son James Doherty O’Brien played opposite him as an up-and-coming player.

Elizabeth Whyte, chief executive of Wexford Arts Centre, where Of Mornington played last month, said in tribute: “Gary honed his craft as one of the finest actors in Ireland on the Wexford stage in many of Billy Roche’s plays. He will be remembered by us most fondly for his mesmerising performances on the arts centre stage in The Boker Poker Club (A Handful of Stars), One Is Not a Number, Lay Me Down Softly, and most recently as Phil in Of Mornington, the role he most wished to play and he embodied to perfection.”

His friend Eugene O’Brien, writer of the TV show Pure Mule, in which Lydon apperared, said: “He was a gift for writers like Billy Roche and Tom Murphy who so honestly  portrayed small-town life and the wounded Irish male, men who had been taught to be strong and never show emotion. There was no one better at embodying the emotional turmoil of such men and the slow process of showing their vulnerabilities than Gary.” 

Other standout stage appearances included Borstal Boy at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, in which he played Brendan; The Weir at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh; Waiting for Godot at the Dublin Theatre Festival; Lay Me Down Softly and Translations at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin; Playboy of the Western World at the Old Vic, London; and The Cripple of Inishmaan at the National Theatre.

On the big screen, he appeared in Calvary (2014); Brooklyn (2015); War Horse (2011); The Guard (2011); Ordinary Decent Criminal (2000); Michael Collins (1996); Strapless (1989); Last September (1999); and the award-winning 2006 film, Small Engine Repair, among many others.

He was best known in Ireland as the counsellor Patrick Murray in five series of RTE One’s popular medical drama, The Clinic (2003-2009), for which role he won best supporting actor in the Irish Film and Television Awards.

Gary Lydon (O’Brien) was born on 11th September 1964, and died on 30th April, aged 61. He is survived by his partner, Paula, his sons James and Sean Luke from his marriage to Kara, and Paula’s daughter, Aoife.