Renowned Irish Actor Gary Lydon, 61, Has Passed Away

Gary Lydon, an Irish actor, and a star of ‘The Guard and The Banshees of Inisherin’, has passed away at age of 61.

Lydon born in England, and later, when he was a child, he moved with his family to Wexford.

Award winning actor worked widely on stage and screen both, on TV shows, he was featured in On Home Ground and Pure Mule before his breakout role in RTÉ’s The Clinic, where he played counsellor Patrick Murray.

Also featured in more than a few critically much-admired films, such as The Guard and The Banshees of Inisherin, both of which featured Brendan Gleeson.

Not only critically, he also appeared in crime drama/ hate and the film Brooklyn, based on the novel by Colm Tóibín.

His work on the stage, Lydon appeared in the world premiere of Banshees of Inisherin director Martin McDonagh’s The Cripple of Inishmaan.

With the conversation to the Irish Examiner, he explained that he turned to acting following challenges with his college exams.

He said, “After leaving school, I tried studying business for a couple of years, but I failed the exams and decided to take a couple of years out.”

“Wexford Theatre Co-op had its own youth theatre where you could get on a type of job training scheme. Myself and a pal of mine and I decided to just go on down there and ask about joining.

“They gave me a script to read, and that was that — I enjoyed being involved so much that I didn’t go back to college. My folks were not thrilled about my choice at the time.”