CHARLIE HENNESSY, who has died in Cork at the age of 77, was in every sense of the term a renaissance man.
Besides having a lifelong involvement in the arts and the cultural life of Cork, he also devoted himself tirelessly to community activities, was an outstanding sportsman in his time, and achieved a high degree of success in his legal career.
Blessed with a light touch and a twinkling sense of humour, he was an amiable man about town, the life and soul of a party, and a gifted raconteur with a fund of amusing stories.
It was enlivening to meet him on the South Mall, where he was a senior partner of JW O'Donovan solicitors, or in Academy Street on his way to the Cork Opera House where he served as a board member for almost 20 years and as chairman of the board for 17 years until his death following a short illness.
He liked the company of actors and people in the media and so was ideally suited to represent the Cork International Film Festival which he chaired for 20 years having first joined the event as a volunteer as far back as 1955.
He served as a member of the Arts Council between 1988 and 1993. In 1999 his far-reaching contribution to the arts was marked by his appointment to a pivotal national position as chair of the National College of Art and Design.
In Cork, the Opera House and the Film Festival owe their survival in no small measure to his political nous and canny resourcefulness.
Were it not for his unstinting commitment to the Opera House, for instance, it would probably not be vested in the public ownership of the people of Cork today. At a particularly rocky stage, when private interests were competing for control of the cash-strapped outfit on a prime site in the heart of the city, he was influential in convincing the powers-that-be on the city council to ensure its future survival.
Similarly, on occasions when the organisers of the film festival found themselves in choppy waters, he was quietly instrumental in steering the event through difficult times, helping to raise badly needed funds and make it the success it is today.
Dedicated solicitor that he was, on the morning that he was admitted to hospital with cancer four weeks ago he appeared in court to represent a client in a road traffic case.
From his university days, he was involved in a succession of drama and musical groups including the Presentation Theatre Guild, the Cork Operatic Society, and the Gilbert and Sullivan Group. Famously, he appeared in the famed Southern Theatre Group's staging of topical satirical reviews with Michael Twomey and Frank Duggan of Cha and Miah fame. Being an established solicitor, he appeared under his stage name of Cahal Stenson.
His interest in the arts assumed a practical dimension through his patronage of numerous young painters and sculptors over the years.
Immersing himself in local politics and community affairs, he served for 25 years as an Independent member of Passage town council, including 12 terms as mayor. He was also an active member of Cork Corporation's Arts Committee and had a keen interest in the economic life of the city where he served on the Cork Chamber of Commerce.
Possessing boundless energy, he also acted on the board of the Sirius Trust to ensure the rescue of the architecturally important premises of the old Royal Cork Yacht Club in Cobh which has now been restored to public use as an arts centre.
In his younger days, he excelled as a sportsman, playing rugby at outhalf for Presentation College where he won junior and senior cup medals, UCC, Cork Constitution and Lansdowne. And in a remarkable crossing of a sporting divide, he also played soccer at senior level with Western Rovers, Evergreen United and UCD.
Water sports were always close to his heart and he was an active sailor and a daily swimmer up to recent times. Living in Passage in the lower reaches of Cork Harbour, he witnessed the gradual pollution of its waters from industrial development and the outpouring of raw domestic sewage from the city and the towns surrounding the busy port.
His palpable sense of outrage at the ruination of a beautiful natural harbour triggered a deep-seated interest in environmental issues and he played a leading role in campaigning to have this priceless resource cleaned up and restored for the benefit of local communities. Indeed, it is a fitting tribute to his memory that the quality of water in the harbour is now vastly improved.
Aptly, at his conferring as a Doctor of Laws at UCC in 2003, university president, Prof Gerard Wrixon, observed that to describe Charlie "as a man of many parts would be an understatement".
Going on to depict him as "an articulate spokesman, advocate and, indeed, champion of numerous diverse movements and associations", he said that "the environment, arts investment, architectural heritage, local democracy, and local and regional strategic planning have all benefited from his considerable gifts as a speaker and activist".
He is survived by his wife Abigail, sister Frankie and brother Ray.
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Charlie Hennessy: born May 9th, 1931; died July 21st, 2008