Mick Lally Dies At 64

To a whole generation he will be remembered as Miley Byrne from Glenroe - the loveable innocent farmer on one of Irish television's longest running dramas.

But Mick Lally's contribution to the Irish arts stretched much farther.

He was an accomplished stage actor, and a co-founder of the Druid Theatre Company in Galway.

He also starred on the big screen, including in Oliver Stone's "Alexander"

And he introduced himself to a whole new generation, who were not even born when Miley left the TV screens, as the voice of Brother Aidan in last year's Academy Award-nominated cartoon "The Secret of Kells".

Taoiseach Brian Cowen led the tributes to the native of Tourmakeady, Co. Mayo when he died last week in hospital after a short illness.

"He was one of the most loved actors of his generation," Mr Cowen said.

"Versatile in both the Irish and English languages, his genius at capturing and portraying the essence of the characters he played, brought him wide, popular and critical acclaim," he added.

Druid artistic director Garry Hynes recalled setting up the theatre company along with Mick Lally and actress Marie Mullen in 1975.

"In those early days of Druid, whenever we wanted to figure something out, the three of us would sit down together. I completely looked up to him. I regarded him as a rock of sense and intelligence.

"He was terrific, absolutely wonderful. An impressive singer, poet, and storyteller. He would find the fun in anything and was passionate about things.

"He was the essence of life and it's very hard to accept he's gone."

His friend and co-star Mary McEvoy, who played his onscreen wife Biddy in Glenroe, said she was "blown away" by his work on the show.

He was "great fun", "a consummate actor" and someone who was a constant in her life, long after Glenroe finished.

"I wouldn't see him every day - for months we'd go without talking or speaking because he'd be doing something else and I'd be doing something else - but when we got together it was just this friendship that was relaxed. We just picked up where we left off and got on with it. I enjoyed his company very much."

The pair were due to reunited for a production of John B Keane's "The Matchmaker" at the Mill Theatre in Dublin later this year.

Hollywood star Gabriel Byrne starred alongside Mick Lally in "Bracken", a forerunner to Glenroe.

"Mick gave everything to every role he played, whether it was on stage or on screen ... his unique self," he said. "When you saw Mick Lally perform, you knew that you were watching something that nobody else had, it was out of the soul of Mick."

The youngest of seven children, Mick Lally was born in Tourmakeady, Co. Mayo in 1945 and raised on the family farm.

He studied at University College Galway and worked as a teacher before helping to establish the Druid in 1975.

The role through which he became a household name was created by writer Wes Burrows for "Bracken" in 1980, a show that lasted just 12 episodes but made a household name of Gabriel Byrne among others.

The father-and-son duo of Dinny and Miley were then made the two central characters in writer Burrow's next creation, Glenroe, which started in 1983. Mick Lally was one of just four actors who lasted the entire 18-year-run of the show.

But while millions know him only as Miley, Lally continued to work on stage - and worked for all major Irish theatres.

He received critical acclaim for several performances including as Old Mahon in "The Playboy of the Western World", and Patrick McCabe's "The Dead School".

Most recently, he returned to TV screens on the Irish language station TG4, playing a businessman on the channel's soap "Ros na Rún".

He was a strong advocate of the Irish language and a human rights campaigner. Mick Lally is survived by his wife of 30 years, Peige, their three children Saileog, Maghnus and Darach, his parents, May and Tommy, a brother and five sisters. He was cremated at Newlands Cross chapel in Dublin on Thursday last.