![]() ![]() He was one of the first prominent Irish figures to proclaim publicly that he had been adopted, when his play 'Da' (1973) appeared. Leonard was known in boyhood as John Keyes, but never changed his surname and from adolescence called himself John Keyes Byrne. She frequently spoke of the boy's origins to him and to others, especially when he exasperated her, and this added to the social sensitivities he associated with the family's restricted and impoverished lifestyle in a cottage at Kalafat Lane, Dalkey, and later in a council house. Margaret had previously suffered several stillbirths. ![]() Dublin, and her husband Nicholas Keyes, a gardener employed by the Jacob business dynasty (and an IRA veteran and Fianna Fáil supporter). Aged twelve days, he was informally adopted by Margaret Keyes (née Doyle) of Dalkey, Co. ![]() Leonard, Hugh (1926–2009), dramatist and commentator, was born John Joseph Byrne in the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin, on 9 November 1926, son of Annie Byrne and an unknown father. ![]()
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