Later Life and Death
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Kieran Hickey lived to the age of 57, passing away in 1993 unexpectedly after an open-heart surgical procedure[1]. He was fine right after the surgery, marking his improvement in a postcard to David Thomson, but died suddenly of an embolism[2]. Hickey left most of his life private, but is remembered[3] by friends and colleagues as being loyal as well as ethical in his practices. That same loyalty was applied to his devotion to having privacy in personal life. In his later life, Hickey worked as an adviser to film students at NCAD, National College of Art and Design[1].
Most of Hickey’s movies were based on Irish class struggles as well as political disturbances. But towards the end of his career, Hickey turned to fiction again, directing on BBC’s adaptation of John McGahern's “The Rockingham Shoot ''[4], which ran until 2006, after his death. Hickey also shared many letters and postcards[5] with Liam O' Leary[6], Irish film director who also worked with RTE, ranging from topics of borrowing O'Learys archives as research materials for Hickey's new works to thanking him for coming over for dinner or tea. RTE later took pride in their promotion of Irish filmmakers, saying how public service television underpinned the development of Kieran Hickey's films[5].
Before Hickey passed, he was able to experience a celebration of his work in 1992. The Galway Film Fleadh celebrated all of Hickey's work in his career thus far. He was credited with being able to show a critical analysis of Ireland in his works, giving a gritty yet real image of Irish life[3]. In the year leading to his death, Hickey was still working, joining forces with Phillip Davidson to write a new movie titled Party Town, but the movie never was published. In Hickey’s free time, he enjoyed hanging out with a large but private social circle, including hiking in the Wicklow mountains [7].
- ^ a b Long, Patrick (2012-10-01), "Hickey, Kieran", Dictionary of Irish Biography, Royal Irish Academy, retrieved 2023-11-07
- ^ Thomson, David (2003). The new biographical dictionary of film (4. ed., repr ed.). New York: Knopf. ISBN 978-0-375-41128-1.
- ^ a b "IFI & JDIFF COLLABORATION: A TRIBUTE TO KIERAN HICKEY". Irish Film Institute. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
- ^ Hickey, Kieran (1987-09-10), The Rockingham Shoot (Drama), Bosco Hogan, Niall Toibin, Marie Kean, BBC Northern Ireland, retrieved 2023-11-08
- ^ a b O'Leary, L., & Hickey, K. (1970). Correspondence, research notes, photographs, reviews and promotional materials of the films of Kieran Hickey.
- ^ "O'Leary, Liam | Dictionary of Irish Biography". www.dib.ie. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
- ^ "Obituary: Kieran Hickey - The Guardian". www.proquest.com. 27 July 1993. Retrieved 2023-11-08.