Hugh Leonard’s Big Birthday
Jack Keyes Byrne’s big birthday took place on 9 November 2026. We think we are being clever here. The Big Birthday was Hugh Leonard’s first professional production – in the Abbey Theatre in 1956. And this was when Jack Keyes Byrne adopted the pen name of Hugh Leonard.
Throughout 2026 his friends and fans have have celebrated his 100th birthday. There have been a host of events. Guided walks around Hugh Leonard’s Dalkey have happened as part of the Dalkey Book Festival and the Spring and Summer of Heritage programmes. A morning “Hugh Leonard A Life in Words” was held on Saturday 7 November in the Lexicon with speakers including Joseph O’Connor and Patrick Mason former artistic director of the Abbey Theatre and director of many Leonard plays. Actors performing included Owen Roe and Karen Cardiff. There are feature articles in national publications.
An exhibition of his life and work – Time Was – is now running in the wonderful Lexicon Library in Dún Laoghaire (If you are reading from foreign parts, know that the Lexicon is a model of how to run a cultural, community-focused centre). It runs for a month.
