Former Hot Press Writer Niall Crumlish Has Died

Everyone at Hot Press is very sad to hear of the death of the brilliant former Hot Press writer, Niall Crumlish.

Niall came to Hot Press through a writing competition. It was 1993 and he was a young student at the time – but his entry was a marvellous, thoughtful piece of writing that immediately stood head and shoulders above the rest. He won the competition and began to write for the magazine.

Over the following years, he was a mainstay of the magazine’s team of critics, a favoured contributor whose work was greatly valued by everyone in the Hot Press editorial troupe.

"That Niall wrote some of the best pieces ever to appear in Hot Press at such a young age,” fellow Hot Press scribe Lorraine Freeney says, in a tribute to be published here later today, "and went to a million gigs and immersed himself in music while also studying medicine in UCD – you know, in his spare time – gives some idea of how impressive his focus was. Niall quickly eclipsed me and everyone else both as a writer and a fan of music."

As Lorraine says, Niall was studying medicine – and gradually the demands of that discipline restricted the time he could spend writing about music. He decided to devote his enormous talents to the world of psychiatry, which did not come as a surprise to anyone who knew him. Rather, it seemed entirely appropriate, as – in his writing – Niall had always shown a very particular interest in, and feel for, charting the human condition.

In all of his work, Niall was thoughtful, kind, receptive and instinctively generous. The challenges presented by psychiatry are immense, and those involved at the coalface are inevitably confronted by the apparent intractability of certain conditions and the impossibility of knowing definitively what the right thing to do, say or advise may be – especially in the context of widespread deprivation, and its side-effects in depression and addiction. But the empathy and gentleness that Niall brought to his work was matched with a depth of intelligence and a genuine curiosity. He thought deeply about feelings and emotions and anxieties, and how people can – and too often do – lose their bearings. And he always wanted to help – in whatever way he could – those who were grappling with mental health or psychiatric issues to find a better, more secure place.

It was knowing this that we asked Niall to participate in the mental health campaign that Hot Press ran in 2018, titled Now We’re Talking. Dr. Niall Crumlish – we enjoyed calling him that – was a panelist, alongside numerous high profile celebrities, on an evening that we organised in Smock Alley Theatre and made a wonderful, thoughtful contribution. It was a sort of homecoming – and we were thrilled that it was possible, and grateful that Niall was so good with his time and his insights.

Friends will know that Niall subsequently suffered a brain tumour and was diagnosed with cancer. He had his first operation in August 2022 and had been dealing with the further-encroaching effects of the cancer ever since. The sad news is that the illness has taken its final toll.

“I remember when I first heard the news that Niall wasn’t well,” Hot Press editor Niall Stokes recalls. “It was such a desperate shock, carrying within it, as it did, the awful realisation that it was likely to prove incurable. I wanted then to let him know how much he meant to us all, and how wonderful it was that we had been able to provide a platform for the writing side of his voluminous individual talents.

“I sent an email to him.

'People are usually young when they come to us, and trying to figure themselves out, never mind understanding the world and where they might find a footing in it,’ I said.

'But there was always a real intelligence and solidity behind everything you wrote. Your work was thoughtful, respectful, insightful – and wonderfully honest, not just about the subject that was engaging you, but also about yourself. I loved reading, and editing, what you wrote. Not much ever had to be changed. It was always original and carefully spun out, with a singular sense of style that was unmistakably Crumlish-esque. It was also shot through with a real seam of decency and humanity.

'In a world where, far too often, the objective of journalists is to bolster their own egos, and justify their frequently enormously inflated sense of self-importance, you brought a completely authentic spirit of openness and enquiry to the pursuit. I loved that about you, and about everything you contributed to Hot Press as a writer. So thank you for all of that, and more…’

“I am glad that I got the opportunity to say those words directly to Niall. I meant every one of them. I also explained that I was disappointed when he felt he had to concentrate on being a doctor – because that was the unvarnished truth. But I was not alone in believing that he was a great writer, and so sensitive and refined in what he had to say, and in the language that he used, that our readers – and his readers – were desperately missing out, in not hearing his voice regularly and consistently.

“Now, there is no turning the clock back. The worst has come to pass. But what Niall wrote is all there, in the Hot Press archives. This is one of the quiet satisfactions of what we have done and what we do. The work of writers like Peter Owens, Bill Graham, Fiona Stevenson aka Faye Wolftree, George Byrne, Nick Kelly, Nell McCafferty, and now Niall Crumlish, is indelibly preserved for posterity.

“The opportunity is thus created for others to find inspiration in what all of these Hot Press writers did, said and achieved. But, for me, in terms of leadership and providing an example of how it can and should be done, Niall Crumlish will always represent the best of what journalism – and in particular critical writing – has to offer. Care, nuance, generosity of spirit, attention to detail, and an empathy that ran deep and ranged wide – these are the qualities that Niall brought to whatever he did.

“Would that our younger writers might realise that there is no better starting point – and go on from there to achieve great things on their own behalf. There could be no better or more appropriate epitaph for Niall."

Niall Crumlish is mourned by his wife Sharon, his children Olivia, Michael and Evan, his father Tom, his brothers Alan, Patrick and Thomas, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, relatives, friends and neighbours.

The Funeral Service, which takes place on Tuesday morning at 10am, can be viewed by clicking this link.