Passing of Founder Member

It was with great sadness that we learned of the death last night of one of our founder members, Walter Mc Donagh. Walter will be fondly remembered by all those in the dramatic community for his wonderful contribution to the development of drama and theatre in Sligo.

Sligo audiences will especially remember his great characterisations on stage and the many wonderful productions that he directed. Many of us will remember Walter as our mentor in the field of drama. We will also remember him among the many former Drama Circle members who campaigned throughout the 1970s and 1980s for a purpose built theatre for Sligo, culminating with the opening of the Hawk’s Well theatre in 1982.

Walter was born in Strokestown and began acting at a young age. With a group of friends he later formed the “Saint Asicus Players”, although it lasted no longer than a year. “I just loved it up on the stage and unfortunately it’s just like a disease; very hard to get rid of it,” Walter told the Sligo Champion in an article in 2006. Many thought that the acting bug had been squashed when Walter swapped the stage for the kitchen, training as a chef in Dublin’s Clarence Hotel. However, in his spare time, he attended Brendan Smith Academy and following an hotel strike, he began working with CIE catering before returning to Sligo.

On arriving back in Sligo, Walter was introduced to Charlie and Maggie Hughes, the driving forces behind the Sligo Unknown Players and he took up his place within the local drama circuit. However, in 1956, a group of half a dozen members broke away and formed what has now become the Sligo Drama Circle, which led to Walter directing his first play. “And this was all discussed over a drink in the bar,” Walter said. There have been numerous successes since that debut performance, as Walter went on to distinguish himself as both an actor and director.

Over the years, he directed numerous plays for the Drama Circle, including most of the plays of W.B. Yeats – indeed his insightful interpretation of W.B. Yeats plays was widely recognised as a speciality. His dramatic achievements include winning the Ulster Drama Cup at the Opera House, Belfast with J.M. Synge’s “Playboy of the Western World” in 1967 and several All-Ireland One-Act winners in Athlone and Naas.

As an actor, Walter gave many outstanding performances, not alone with the Drama Circle but also with Sligo Fun Company, Sligo Musical Society, Profile Players, Everyman Theatre and the Sligo Players. The actor in “Montserrat” (1960), the Tramp in “The Pot of Broth” (1970), Michael Miskell in “The Workhouse Ward” (1983), Rev. Alfred Davidson in “Rain” (1981), Hamm in “Endgame” (1980), the Tailor in “The Tailor and Ansty” (1981) and S.B. O’ Donnell in “Philadelphia, Here I Come” (1987) must rank among his many outstanding performances on Sligo stages.

When questioned on his most memorable production, Walter simply added: “There were a lot of performances and I enjoyed every one”.

In an article on Walter for the Sligo Champion in 1993, Jim Gray referred to him as “one of the greatest personalities in local theatre over the past half century” while also adding that he was “one of nature’s true gentlemen”. This accurately sums up our memory of Walter.

We fondly remember Walter and thank him for the great dramatic legacy that he has left us. We in the Sligo Drama Circle extend our condolences to Mary and Kate and to Walter’s extended family and wide circle of friends.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.”

“As You Like It”, William Shakespeare, Act II, Sc. VII

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