Phyllis Ryan honoured for an illustrious life dedicated to Irish theatre

Described both as "a living link with the legendary Abbey actors of the 1930s" and as "Ireland's most famous freelance theatrical producer," Phyllis Ryan was a hugely popular winner of the Special Tribute award.

Admitted to the Abbey School of Acting at the age of 13, five years under the age limit, she was quickly playing alongside such greats as Barry Fitzgerald, F.J. McCormick and Eileen Crowe. At 15, she was an acclaimed Mollser in The Plough and the Stars. And she crowned her already illustrious teenage acting career when, in an unprecedented move, she was offered a place in the Abbey Company while still at school.

But it is her talents as a producer, director and theatrical manager that have left the most lasting legacy.

As actress Dearbhla Molloy noted in a tribute, Ms Ryan "presented more than 100 plays and reviews throughout Ireland without subsidy or sponsorship".

Among the many theatrical figures in her debt was playwright John B. Keane, who said: "It is chiefly to Phyllis Ryan that I owe the success I enjoy today. She goaded and coaxed and cajoled me into writing plays".

Ms Molloy, now starring in Hinterland at the Abbey, described the recipient as "courageous, passionate, loyal, tenacious, selfless and with a will like spun steel".

She added: "In this 21st century in Ireland, we take for granted corporate sponsorship, equality for women established in law, mobile phones, superhighways for both information and transport. When Phyllis Ryan graduated to running the first of her own companies, Orion, in the 50s, none of these elements existed.

"She operated from a sort of virtual office, the filing system in her head, the finance department in her handbag. Negotiations and deals were done on any available payphone wherever they happened to be. To contemplate how she managed to raise money to buy rights, rent theatres, build sets, and pay actors and stage management is awe-inducing."

Now in her late 70s, Ms Ryan is still actively involved in theatre.

Accepting the award, she spoke of "my little company, who will be opening in America in a few hours from now" and invited the audience to join her in praying that "the good Lord may guide the pens of the New York critics."

Actors Anna Manahan and Des Keogh, who are starring in the Broadway production of John B. Keane's The Matchmaker, paid a filmed tribute to her from New York. Ms Manahan said there were people in the theatre for whom surnames were not necessary: "Siobhán, Cyril, Micheál, Hilton, Tomás, and Phyllis too."