The Institute is saddened to hear of the death of Michael Patrick, a former IASH/Traverse Creative Fellow with his writing partner Oisín Kearney.
Born Michael Campbell, he took the stage name Michael Patrick after his degree at Churchill College, Cambridge, where he met Oisín. He then trained as an actor at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, going on to found Pan Narrans Theatre in Belfast, where the pair focused on creating theatre with a strong narrative, based on real-life experiences or documentary materials. Their first professional collaboration, My Left Nut (2017) was based on Michael’s teenage years, performed by Michael and directed by Oisín. The multi-award-winning play told the true story of a teenager who develops a swelling on his testicle while dealing with the death of his father.
Their other works include The Alternative (2019) for Fishamble, and The Border Game (2021), the culmination of interviews with 100 people living along the Irish Border, as well as several radio plays. Appointed jointly as IASH Fellows in 2022, Michael and Oisín developed The Union of Craic, a play that explores nationalism through a new political entity joining Scotland with the island of Ireland. With the constitutional makeup of the British Isles facing uncertainty and nationalist ideals on the rise around the world, the play responds to urgent questions of independence and nationalism in biting comedic satire.
Michael appeared with the RSC, the Abbey Theatre and Northern Ireland Opera. His screen credits include the BBC adaptation of My Left Nut, Game of Thrones, This Town and Blue Lights.
Michael was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2023, his father having died of the same condition when he was young. With typical flair, Michael put his experiences onstage, beginning with a remarkable production of The Tragedy of Richard III (2024) at Belfast’s Lyric Theatre, adapted with Oisín. Marking the first time that a disabled actor had played the title role on the island of Ireland, the production won Michael the judges’ prize at the Stage Awards in London. He followed this triumph with My Right Foot in 2025. The play was described as “a deeply personal 70-minute chronicle of motor-neuron disease that was a masterclass in humour, honesty and resilience” by the Irish Times.
He died on 7 April 2026, aged 35.
Obituaries and tributes:
Image by Alex Brenner