{"id":217415,"date":"2025-12-05T20:51:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T20:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/217415\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T20:51:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T20:51:10","slug":"endearing-and-gregarious-hugh-wallace-remembered-as-stars-and-friends-gather-for-funeral-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/217415\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Endearing and gregarious\u2019 Hugh Wallace remembered as stars and friends gather for funeral \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Architect and TV presenter Hugh Wallace<\/a> \u201cshaped the spaces in which people lived their lives\u201d, but found his \u201ctrue home\u201d in his life with his husband, his funeral has heard.<\/p>\n

Mourners filled St Patrick\u2019s Cathedral on Friday morning, hearing that households were \u201cdelighted to welcome Hugh into their livingrooms\u201d over the past decade.<\/p>\n

Mr Wallace, an award-winning architect who presented The Great House Revival and was a judge on Home of the Year<\/a>, died suddenly at his home in Dublin<\/a> on Monday at the age of 68.<\/p>\n

His funeral drew hundreds, including his Home of the Year co-host Amanda Bone, architect Dermot Bannon, fashion designer Brendan Courtney and garden designer Diarmuid Gavin.<\/p>\n

At the outset of his funeral, his favourite song, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, sung by Judy Garland, rang through the halls of the cathedral, while My Way by Frank Sinatra played near its end.<\/p>\n

Due to the sudden nature of his friend\u2019s death, John Waters, a close friend of the deceased, paid tribute as though Mr Wallace himself was speaking his final message to family and friends, saying: \u201cI had assumed a more flamboyant exit in years to come after much more TV success, and perhaps a couple of Bafta awards.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe funeral took place in Dublin’s St Patrick’s Cathedral. Photograph: Enda O’Dowd <\/p>\n

He described Mr Wallace\u2019s successful career as an architect, which stretched back to 1982 when he cofounded Douglas Wallace Architects with Alan Douglas.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Hugh Wallace radiated sheer joy on the screen. His death leaves a huge gulfOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The pair grew the firm and went on to secure clients such as Peter Mark, A|Wear and Brown Thomas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a name, and a jealous competitor was heard to say about us at one stage, \u2018A|Wear, gaywear, Douglas Wallace will be there\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat kind of early doors prejudice made us double down and work even harder.\u201d<\/p>\n

He remarked how \u201cthings were going so well\u201d, including his television career, which he \u201cloved\u201d, while he and his husband, Martin Corbett, were due to move into their new home this weekend, having renovated the property for three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of you may remember the phrase in Dublin that \u2018love stories begin at Zhivago\u2019. Well, a lot of fairy tales also began at the George pub in Dublin.<\/p>\n

\u201cMartin and I were part of a fairytale. It was Valentine\u2019s night of 1988, and we lasted together for 37 years, which I\u2019d take again if I could.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe stuck with me to the end, right until Sunday night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Waters finished his tribute by reading a quote which gave Mr Wallace \u201cgreat comfort\u201d in his \u201cdarkest hours\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u201cLet thee all remember, that a pop of colour will brighten your day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FellowFellow architect Dermot Bannon leaves the funeral of Hugh Wallace. Photograph: Enda O’Dowd <\/p>\n

Noting that television viewers were \u201cdelighted\u201d to welcome Mr Wallace into their livingrooms, the Very Reverend William Morton said he was a \u201cnatural\u201d.<\/p>\n

Describing his \u201ccharacteristic voice, his large spectacles, colourful shirts and jumpers\u201d, the Very Rev said Mr Wallace was \u201cendearing and gregarious\u201d, \u201cknowledgeable\u201d and \u201cnever short of conviction\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe understood buildings, but more than that, he understood people. How they live, how they hope, how they dream and how they contend fiercely for what they believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ArchitectArchitect and TV presenter Hugh Wallace.
\nPhotograph: Tom Honan <\/p>\n

He said Mr Wallace was \u201chonest, direct, passionate, challenging, and deeply human\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe lived fully, he lived deeply, he left his mark unmistakably.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noting that Mr Wallace \u201cquite literally shaped the spaces in which others live their lives\u201d, the Very Rev said a house is more than brick and timber, saying a home is where \u201clove abides\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone who knew Hugh knows that his true home was found in his life with Martin. In shared work, shared laughter, shared dreams, and shared courage.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir new home held so much in store for them, yet the love that filled those plans does not vanish with death.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018He was so kind, with such twinkly sparkly eyes\u2019: Tributes paid to Hugh WallaceOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Architect and TV presenter Hugh Wallace \u201cshaped the spaces in which people lived their lives\u201d, but found his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217416,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[75],"tags":[81743,18,117,117831,115738,19,17,1181],"class_list":["post-217415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-dermot-bannon","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-home-of-the-year","tag-hugh-wallace","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-rte"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115668942274061052","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}