Pat Shortt has paid tribute to his late D'Unbelievables co-star Jon Kenny, saying he was "lucky" to spend so many years touring with him and learning from him.
Jon Kenny had been receiving treatment this year for cancer and heart failure.
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He died in hospital on Friday night at the age of 66.
We are all devastated with the news of Jon Passing and our thoughts are with Margy Aaron and Leah. I was lucky to spend so many years touring with Jon and learning from him. Creating some great shows and videos. Hilarious hours in the rehersal room and playing great tunes. But… pic.twitter.com/Eai3cs9q8c
— Pat Shortt (@Pat_Shortt) November 16, 2024
In a statement on X, Pat Shortt wrote: "We are all devastated with the news of Jon passing...
"I was lucky to spend so many years touring with Jon and learning from him. Creating some great shows and videos. Hilarious hours in the rehearsal room and playing great tunes.
"But sitting in the kitchen with Margy (Jon Kenny's wife) and Caroline (Pat Shortt's wife) just having the craic in Lough Gur will never be forgotten. Thanks Jon."
Jon Kenny - A uniquely Irish cultural giant
In his tribute to Jon Kenny, President Michael D Higgins said: "It is with great sadness that so many people, and in particular all those who appreciated his particular brand of humour, will have learned of the death of Jon Kenny.
"With his impeccable, natural talent for humour and an ability to raise a laugh with just the slightest action, Jon brought so much joy and laughter in his work with Pat Shortt as one half of the D'Unbelievables. Immensely popular amongst all his colleagues, for Pat Shortt it will be an incredible loss of his partner in showbusiness.
"With his solo work and beyond - including his outstanding work as a stage and film actor and poet - Jon Kenny has left what is a substantial body of work, which will be recalled with the greatest warmth by the Irish public.
"It was part of the generosity of his character that he spoke about his health issues, and in this he demonstrated his trademark warmth and humour, while providing an inspiration to those suffering from their own illnesses."
Extending his deepest sympathies to Jon Kenny's "family, friends, and fellow performers", President Higgins concluded: "He will be deeply missed by all those who appreciated his extraordinary talent."
In a statement to The Limerick Leader, Jon Kenny's family said: "It is with deep sadness, the family of Jon Kenny, his wife and soul-mate Margy, his son Aran and daughter Laya, wish to announce his passing yesterday, 15th November 2024 at 7.20pm, in hospital in Galway.
"Jon had suffered a cardiac arrest in the early hours of Sunday 10th November at UHG (University Hospital Galway). He did not regain consciousness, but his entire family was by his side during this difficult time.
"Jon grabbed life and shook it as hard as he could, getting every ounce of fun, madness, and love from it - his wit, humour, generosity, and kindness will outlast his passing. The memories and stories of those who knew him will be his legend."
The Co Limerick-born star of stage and screen found nationwide and international fame in the 1990s with D'Unbelievables, playing a variety of off-the-wall Irish characters alongside Pat Shortt.
Among his many screen credits were the Father Ted episode A Song for Europe and the films The Van, Les Misérables (1998), Angela's Ashes, Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie, Song of the Sea, Wolfwalkers, and The Banshees of Inisherin, in which he reunited with Pat Shortt.
An acclaimed singer, poet, and solo stand-up performer, he also starred on stage in John B Keane's The Matchmaker, Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer at The Abbey Theatre, and Katie Holly's dark comedy Crowman, a one-man show in which he portrayed 10 characters.
He agreed with the host that he had never had "a normal job".
"And no training either, like, that would sort of, say, give you an oul docket, either!" he continued. "Something that you could hang on the wall and show your mother!"
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On the subject of his success as half of D'Unbelievables, he said: "God, I couldn't resent it because we were so lucky to have it. It was very good to us, thanks be to God.
"It just kind of kept growing and growing, which was great. We were kind of looking around ourselves going, 'Is this really happening?'
"Because we'd gone from - I won't say an obscurity - but, like, doing nice little venues and doing ok to all of a sudden doing two or three months in Vicar Street. Every night. And months in The Tivoli. Once we got 'in', it just kept going - and that went on and on for years."
He also spoke on the show of being diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma "at the beginning of 2000".
"I was in my 40s," he recounted. "That went on for two years and I got a stem cell transplant, thanks be to God, in James's and they sorted me out, and I motored on for another while."
"The cancer came back," he said. "I had it there again, it came back again about three years ago, four years ago. So I had some operation to remove some of my left lung, and that was good - good luck to that.
"But didn't the fecker come back again? On my left lung again. I've been lucky now because my chemo is working, so I've been grand, you know? But just in the middle of it all, just for the craic of it - you know when you're getting on with things? - and after I had my second chemo, I had heart failure. Throw that in the mix, like. A nice little cocktail of things there to be getting on with."
He said he chose to "put the blinkers on and keep going".
"What else can you do, like?" he added.
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