Actor Malachy McCourt, best known for his role as Kevin the bartender on the soap opera “Ryan’s Hope,” died on Monday at the age of 92.
amNewYork email newsletterLegendary actor, storyteller and Irish American icon Malachy McCourt, perhaps best known for his role as Kevin the bartender on the soap opera “Ryan’s Hope,” died on Monday at the age of 92., McCourt died in a New York City hospital. His son Conor confirmed the death but did not provide a specific cause.
A beloved champion of Irish Americans and many others across the country, McCourt authored several works about both Ireland and the United States. In 1998, he wrote “A Monk Swimming,” a memoir that details his life in Limerick, Ireland, and his experiences in America; the title of the memoir reflects a line in the Hail Mary prayer. The book is said to pick up just about where his older brother’s book, “Angela’s Ashes,” leaves off.
McCourt’s step daughter Nina, and Schneps’ daughter, Lara, were residents at the school that eventually experienced severe budget cuts that led to overcrowding and deplorable living conditions.“Malachy and my late husband Murray led the ‘Willowbrook wars,’” Schneps recounted. “Malachy was on WMCA radio and was an extraordinary partner to Murray, who was a lawyer fighting side by side, never wavering from the state officials’ pressures to back off.