TV hit show actor dies at 58

An Irish actor who appeared in the hit BBC 1 series Ballykissangel has died at a Shropshire nursing home. Peter Caffrey, pictured on the right, died on Tuesday, aged 58.

He had been at Radbrook Nursing Home, in Shrewsbury, battling cancer.

His sister Carol Witherow today paid tribute to her brother who she said had an "amazingly positive attitude to life".

She said he would be best remembered for his role as Padraig in Ballykissangel, but would also be fondly remembered in Shrewsbury after his impromptu entertainment at the town's cathedral for famine relief in Sudan in 1999.

Mrs Witherow, of Shrewsbury, said: "Peter suffered a devastating stroke in 2000 which effectively ended his career, although he never gave up hope of a recovery.

"It was so frustrating for him, like being a prisoner trapped in your own mind. Peter had to relearn language all over again and how to read and write, but although he knew what he wanted to say, the words wouldn't come.

"But he never complained; literally, never. He worked and worked at his communication, loved and lived every minute of his life and always said, 'smashing, smashing' when you asked him how he was."

Mr Caffrey was nominated for a Jacob's award for his starring role in Children of a Lesser God at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin, and performed to great acclaim in the National and Bush Theatres in London, as well as Druid Theatre, in Galway. His co-stars included Brenda Blethyn, John Hurt and Oscar-winner Brenda Fricker.

His funeral will take place in Dublin, but his sister paid tribute to the staff who had cared for him.