1. Michael Lally was an Irish stage, film, and television actor.
20 Facts About Mick Lally
1. 2.
Mick Lally departed from a teaching career for acting during the 1970s.
3.
Mick Lally died in August 2010 after a battle with emphysema.
4.
Mick Lally went to the local national school in Tourmakeady and then to St Mary's College, Galway.
5.
Mick Lally began his acting career with Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe, and was a founding member of the Druid Theatre Company.
6.
Mick Lally became a member of the Field Day Theatre Company, and starred in the company's 1980 premiere of Brian Friel's play Translations.
7.
Mick Lally first played at the Abbey Theatre in 1977 in a production of Wild Oats and went on to perform in many other Abbey productions.
8.
In 1982, Mick Lally starred in the TV series The Ballroom of Romance alongside Brenda Fricker.
9.
In 1979, Mick Lally won a Jacob's Award for his performance as Miley in Bracken.
10.
Mick Lally had some musical success when "The By-road to Glenroe" went to the top of the Irish charts in 1990.
11.
In 1994, Mick Lally played the character Hugh in The Secret of Roan Inish, and in 1995 portrayed Dan Hogan in the film adaptation of Maeve Binchy's Circle of Friends.
12.
Mick Lally appeared in several TV advertisements encouraging elderly people to "release the equity tied up in their homes" during the Celtic Tiger.
13.
Mick Lally was married to a nurse, Peige Ni Chonghaile, with whom he celebrated his 30th wedding anniversary the year before his death.
14.
Mick Lally was a fluent speaker of the Irish language, and his children studied in Irish-speaking schools.
15.
Mick Lally appeared in several Irish language productions throughout his career, from Poitin in 1978 to an appearance in the Irish language soap Ros na Run in 2008.
16.
Mick Lally was a supporter of socialist causes, and canvassed for Socialist Party candidate Joe Higgins in the 1996 Dublin West by-election and the 1997 general election.
17.
Mick Lally was an atheist who did not believe in an afterlife, and regarded religion as nonsense and "codology".
18.
Mick Lally died on the morning of 31 August 2010, after a short stay in hospital.
19.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen said he was "shocked and saddened" by Mick Lally's death, adding that he was "one of the most loved actors of his generation and will be dearly missed by the public and his colleagues in theatre and television".
20.
Mick Lally's funeral took place in Dublin on 2 September 2010.