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Literary world mourns sculptor Des McNamara
By Elaine Sheridan
TRIBUTES were this week being paid to one of Ireland’s most colourful
literary characters after he died in London.
Desmond McNamara was a pivotal figure of the colourful literary scene
in 1940s Dublin where gifted storytellers Brendan Behan, Pat-rick Kavanagh
and Flann O’Brien mingled.
The sculptor and writer known as Mac died following a short illness at
his West Hampstead home just three months short of turning 90.
Friends and family recalled his stories of escapades from the 1940s and
1950s as writers and artists gathered for endless debates at his studio
near Grafton Street before retiring to literary haunts such as McDaid’s.
Desmond McNamara was born in Dublin’s Mount Street in 1918 but moved
to London in the late 1950s.
On his return to Ireland he worked for both the Gate and the Abbey theatres
where he designed costumes.
A cast bronze head he made of his close friend and fellow author Brendan
Behan is in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland.
He also turned his imagination to writing with many published works including
the novel Confessions Of An Irish Werewolf.
His actor son Oengus told how his father had made his papier-mache sculptures
from the works of the writers who posed for him.
He had a huge circle of friends, with many receiving little moulded works
of famous Irish writers in their Christmas cards each year.
All the key figures on the literary scene would spend time in Mr McNamara’s
studios said his friend the writer Brendan Lynch.
He said: “He introduced everyone to everyone else.
“Mac’s Salon led to Mc-Daid’s becoming a literary pub
as they would all go over there.”
He added it was a shame Desmond McNamara never received the recognition
he deserved in his own country after emigrating.
His burial will take place at Islington Cemetery in north London on January
17.
He is survived by his wife Priscilla and his sons Oengus and Oisin. |
