Desmond MacNamara: Desmond MacNamara, who has died aged 89, was a sculptor whose specialty was papier-mâché. A set designer for the Gate and Abbey theatres, he designed props for Laurence Olivier's film version of Henry V.
Late in life he turned to writing novels, the first of which, Book of Intrusions (1994), was well received; it was followed by Confessions of an Irish Werewolf (2006).
He was part of the coterie of artists, writers and erstwhile republicans that in the 1940s gathered in McDaid's pub, Harry Street, Dublin, and frequented the Catacombs, the Fitzwilliam Square basement that hosted after-hours drinking.
The company included Brendan Behan, Anthony Cronin, JP Donleavy and a fellow student and compatriot of Donleavy's, Gainor Crist, who was the inspiration for Sebastian Dangerfield, the boozing, womanising hero of Donleavy's The Ginger Man. MacNamara appears in the book as MacDoon.
In the late 1940s he ran a sort of non-stop salon in his flat-cum-studio on the top floor of the Monument Cafe at Grafton Street.
He worked through the day producing puppets, masks, stage props, window-models and costume jewellery, welcoming friends, acquaintances and visitors to Dublin who dropped in for conversation and coffee.
In his memoir, Remembering How We Stood, John Ryan recalled one of MacNamara's creations - "a doorknocker in the shape of Roger Casement's head ['the ghost of Roger Casement is knocking on the door . . .'] which, though of paper, [ had] the consistency of cast iron".
Brendan Behan made himself at home in the studio; MacNamara had known him when they were both members of Na Fianna Éireann.
He and his first wife, Beverlie Hooberman, were generous hosts. But they were strict vegetarians and Behan dutifully ate the "rabbit food" they served, consoling himself with the notion that it was "intellectual" fodder and, as such, likely to be good for the brain.
One evening, when his hosts were out, Behan's hunger got the better of him. He grabbed the rib steak reserved for the couple's cats, fried it and was wolfing down the last mouthful just as they returned.
By now the cats were wailing, and Behan pressed their muzzles into the melted dripping in the pan.
The MacNamaras were puzzled as to why their pets, apparently fed, were clearly upset.
Born in 1918, MacNamara grew up in Lower Mount Street, Dublin. His father, from Killaloe, Co Clare, died when he was very young; and his mother, a couturier, had a shop in Wicklow Street.
He studied at UCD and the National College of Art. Having trained as a sculptor, he became involved in a theatre group that included the poet and diplomat Valentine Iremonger and Mary O'Malley, later to found the Lyric Theatre in Belfast.
He took to making props and his work came to the attention of bigger, commercial companies.
He met Patrick Kavanagh in McDaid's, and never forgot the first "rather irascible" conversation he had with him. Brian O'Nolan did not strike him as particularly sociable. But he was happy to design the jacket of The Dalkey Archive at the author's request.
He enjoyed his encounters with Erwin Schrödinger, the pioneer of wave mechanics who found refuge at the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies during the second World War. "His ideas were toys to him and he liked explaining them to people."
Although he is cited in almost every book about "literary Dublin", he was eager to put the record straight. As he saw it, there was no "golden age" but a clearing of the lungs after the congestion of the Emergency (the term adopted in Ireland for the second World War).
"Ireland was spared the horrors of the war years, but it did pay a price. It was pushed back on itself, became insulated and cut off from news. Dublin was a city of rumours."
In the early 1950s he left for London, and in 1957 set up house in West Hampstead, near Kilburn, where he remained until his death.
He taught art at the Marylebone Institute, and wrote manuals on picture framing, papier-mâché and puppetry. He also wrote a biography of Éamon de Valera for children.
He found English people very tolerant, though he preferred the company of disputative Celts. His early politics were influenced by Peadar O'Donnell and George Gilmore, and throughout his life in London he was proudly Old Labour.
Examples of his work can be seen in Dublin, at the National Gallery and the Irish Writers' Museum.
He is survived by his wife Skylla, and sons Oengus and Oisín.
Desmond MacNamara: born May 10th, 1918; died January 8th, 2008