RTÉ's Fair City soap opera actress, Mrs Pat Leavy, died suddenly at a Dublin hospital yesterday.
Mrs Leavy, who played the role of Hannah Finnegan in Fair City for the last 11 years, fell ill on set on Tuesday and went home early. She was admitted to hospital early yesterday morning and later died.
Mrs Leavy was in her early sixties and is survived by her husband, George, daughter Siobhán and sons Alan and Gary.
RTÉ has expressed its "sincere sympathy to the family and friends of Pat Leavy, the hugely popular and much-loved actress".
"All in Fair City are shocked and saddened at Pat's sudden death. She was a towering presence in the studios and will be missed deeply by us all," said the executive producer of Fair City, Mr Niall Matthews.
Originally from Belvedere Street in Dublin, Mrs Leavy married at 17 and only began acting in her 30s. Her first role on the Abbey stage was in Tom Murphy's The Blue Macushla, in 1980.
Her acting career included many appearances at the National Theatre, a tour of Australia and New Zealand and the Edinburgh Festival.
Mrs Leavy's feature films credits include The Commitments (1991), The General (1998), The Butcher Boy (1998) and This is my Father (1999).
Her first big television break was in 1977 with rural soap The Riordans, which she joined for the last three years of the series.