‘Deirdre Purcell was as warm and captivating as her books’: Leading figures pay tribute to author and broadcaster

President Michael D Higgins has led tributes to Deirdre Purcell, the bestselling author and former RTÉ broadcaster, who has died, aged 77.

“Sabina and I have learnt with sadness of the passing of Deirdre Purcell, whose life’s work extended across the wide spectrum of the arts and broadcasting,” President Higgins said.

“In a distinguished career, Deirdre left a singular contribution in all of the different aspects of literature and broadcasting to which she turned her many talents – from her work as an actress in the Abbey Theatre, through her award-winning print journalism and time as the first female anchor of RTÉ's Nine O’Clock news, and on to her critically acclaimed creative work in fiction. She will be remembered by colleagues and friends for her warm and creative presence.

[ Deirdre Purcell, popular novelist and broadcaster, dies at 77 ]

“I particularly recall one afternoon where Deirdre interviewed Brendan Kennelly and myself for the Sunday Tribune, the attention to detail which she gave to such interviews was indicative of the skill with which she went about her work and has been often remarked upon by her many admirers.

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“Sabina and I extend our deepest condolences to Deirdre’s husband Kevin Healy, her sons Adrian and Simon Weckler, and to her wide circle of family and friends.”

“All at Hachette Ireland are heartbroken to hear the news of Deirdre Purcell’s passing,” her publisher Ciara Considine said. “Deirdre was a formidable spirit and a leading light in Ireland’s literary scene for over 30 years. Hachette was proud to publish her fiction and non-fiction across two decades. With warmth, wit, compassion and sharp observation, Deirdre reflected the Ireland of her era. Deirdre’s storytelling drew in all who entered her world of words, and we are thankful for a treasured record of a distinctive life and career. Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann.”

Patricia Scanlan, her fellow author and close friend, said: “I can’t believe I’m writing a tribute for one of my oldest, dearest, most treasured friends. Deirdre once told me that she was told she carried the Dakini/Goddess energy and how true that was. She was the very essence of what that meant. A female messenger of wisdom, bearing the most sacred aspect of the feminine principle. Deirdre was a very empowered woman. She broke glass ceilings. Everything she did she did with passion, flair and great professionalism. She had immense integrity. She had a formidable intellect but she wore it, and all her many skills, lightly.

“I knew her as a writer, journalist, broadcaster, of course, but more importantly I knew her as a true friend with whom I shared her ups and downs, and she mine. We knew the ins and outs of each other – and I valued her wisdom and advice – but mostly I cherish the precious memories of our laughs together. Great guffaws that would have tears rolling down our cheeks. I’m laughing now as I write this, thinking of some of the mad things we did during our long and precious friendship. I was blessed to have her in my life, and I know she is, as always, flying high.”

Sheila O’Flanagan said: “Deirdre was a person of many talents and a wonderful storyteller both in print and in person. Generous to a fault and always willing to share her time and insights, she was great company, and I enjoyed nothing more than meeting her for coffee where we’d exchange disaster stories about our current work in progress and cheerfully swap gossip about everything and everyone under the sun. Despite being well loved by so many people she always underestimated her own abilities, yet had a blistering work ethic and a constant desire to do everything even better. She will be sadly missed by everyone who knew her.”

“I met Deirdre Purcell at a charity event hosted by Eason’s,” Carmel Harrington said. “I stared in wonder at her for at least an hour before I summoned up the nerve to say hello. I need not have been nervous - Deirdre was as warm and captivating as her books. We ended up chatting about our writing careers and were charmed that we’d both worked in Aer Lingus, before we became authors. We had much in common!

“I can still remember reading Falling for a Dancer in the early ‘90s, late into the night. It was one of those unputdownable reads, full of twists and turns that kept me guessing right until the last page. Deirdre was a true trailblazer in Ireland for Irish fiction writers. And I’ll always be grateful that I got the chance to meet her, to tell her that in person.”

[ Dear Editor: Deirdre Purcell’s debt to the red pen ]

Mary O’Donnell said: “When working as theatre critic at The Sunday Tribune in the late ‘80s, I was fascinated by the sight of Deirdre’s office chair being, literally, chained to its desk. She was by now renowned for her penetrating profiles of various personalities, while the rest of us avoided possible public flayings at the Tuesday editorials. I admired her so much. This rare-bird renaissance woman had such abundant gifts, and was on the brink of publishing her successful first novel. Her candour and lack of pretension, also her single-mindedness, were inspiring. She was so generous-spirited after my own first novel appeared, and it continued to be a complete pleasure to bump into her at various events in the company of Patricia Scanlon or Philip MacDermott of Poolbeg Press.”

Purcell was a successful non-fiction author before turning to fiction with her debut bestseller, A Place of Stones, in 1991. As well as The RTÉ Book, a behind the scenes look at Irish broadcasting, she ghost-wrote her colleague Gay Byrne’s autobiography, The Time of My Life, which she told me was “a brilliant test of stamina” that convinced her she could deliver a novel, which she called her 13th career, after the civil service, Aer Lingus, acting at the Abbey Theatre, broadcasting for RTÉ and journalism with The Irish Press and the Sunday Tribune under Vincent Browne.

[ Deirdre Purcell: ‘If there’s a fifty-fifty chance I’ll succeed, I’ll risk it’ ]

“The Sunday Tribune asked me to join them, I know this for a fact, though they denied it to this day, because they didn’t have a single high-profile woman writing for them and they thought my name would look good on the masthead.” It paid off for both parties as she won the Benson & Hedges Journalist of the Year award the AT Cross Woman Journalist of the Year awards.

One of her biggest scoops was tracking down scandal-hit former US presidential candidate Gary Hart to an address in Connemara, where she secured a world exclusive interview, which she celebrated over dinner and a bottle of whiskey with him in Sweeney’s hotel in Oughterard.

A Place of Stones, which Maeve Binchy called “an unputdownable story of Irish life and love”, was followed by That Childhood Country then Falling for a Dancer in 1993, which was adapted for a BBC TV series in 1998 starring Elisabeth Dermot Walsh, Liam Cunningham, Dermot Crowley and a young Colin Farrell. Other novels included Love Like Hate Adore (1997), Tell Me Your Secret (2006), The Husband (2016) and The Christmas Voyage.

Discussing the latter work in The Irish Times in 2017, she compared her writing method to that of Patricia Scanlan, her friend and fellow author.

“My pal Patricia Scanlan and I have discussed, at length, how we must remain in control. We write our characters’ utterances and arguments. We describe the locations. We set up the actions. She is certainly in control from beginning to end when she’s writing and I applaud that from the bottom of my heart. For me, however, when in the throes of a first draft, my characters are messers. These people I’ve created struggle against what I think I’ve ordained for them; they will order me to back off and let them tell the story as they see it, they play hooky, won’t come inside.”