John Lynch urges the council to reverse decision to drop Sean Hollywood's name from new arts centre
The list is long when it comes to those who have enjoyed successful careers in the arts, thanks in no small measure to Sean Hollywood. And actor John Lynch is one.
The hugely successful Newry actor and novelist wrote to the Reporter after hearing that Newry Mourne and Down District Council had decided that Sean Hollywood’s name will not be on the new arts centre.
Mr Lynch is well known from films such as Cal (1984), The Secret Garden (1993), In the Name of the Father (1993), Sliding Doors (1998), The Banishing (2021) and television series The Fall (2013-16), The Terror (2018), The Head (2020-22), and Blue Lights (2023). He is also the author of the novels, Torn Water and Falling Out of Heaven.
Letter to the Editor:
“I learned only recently that there are plans to drop Sean Hollywood’s name from the new Newry Arts Centre, a decision that frankly baffles me. I was a student of his at St Colman’s College from 1971 until I left in ‘79, or thereabouts, but that only tells part of the story.
He held a class every Thursday called Speech and Drama. It was his idea of course and it was there that I first fell under his spell. They were dark times, but I remember how, in that cramped space, we could all escape the grimness of the outside world for an hour or so.
He took a shine to me and over the next few years we did countless productions together, in Gaelic and English, from Ballymoney to Wexford. We travelled the amateur theatre circuit with the rest of the Newpoint Players. It gave me purpose, it steadied me and ultimately prepared me for what lay ahead.
He was all the things that have already been written and said about him: vibrant, larger than life, a polymath, but he was also a friend who dragged me out of the darkness and into the light. I’ve had a great career. I’ve worked with the best and the worst that the acting profession has to offer. I’ve travelled the world because of the gifts that I found in that tiny room next to the refectory in St Colman’s; gifts that Sean Hollywood bestowed.
He also taught me English literature for many years and I had the pleasure of sharing in his love of language. I am now a published author, another boon that is directly linked to Sean and his teaching.
One morning in spring 1979, we sat down together and chose the Drama Schools that I would apply to. He rehearsed me for my auditions in London. This was the last chance to make something of my life. My grades were terrible, my attendance non-existent, but Sean fought for me because he believed in me when no one else did. I got into Drama College and two years later I was making my first film.
This is just one story. There are countless others; boys and girls like me growing up in a world that was on fire. He sheltered us and showed us a way out. He was a force of nature, not afraid to stand his ground.
I count myself lucky that he stood in my way and I urge the council not to dismantle his name, but to let it proudly stand as a beacon for those who would be of use in the world.”
Yours sincerely, John Lynch