Analysis: The performer, who died 30 years ago this year, made an invaluable contribution to Ireland's cultural scene during the 1980s and 1990s
Thom McGinty was a man of many faces and characters. He was most commonly known as The Diceman, a street performer familiar to Dubliners who passed him on Grafton Street in the 1980s and early 1990s. He also faced controversy and personal attack owing to his sexuality in an Ireland that then classed homosexuality a crime. McGinty died from AIDS-related illness 30 years ago in February 1995, but who was the real man behind the character?
McGinty was born in Strathclyde, Scotland in 1952 to Irish parents. His father, Thomas, was from Donegal and his mother, Mary, from Baltinglass in Co. Wicklow, where McGinty would spend childhood summers. Later, he trained in theatre under Hugo Gifford, founder of the Strathclyde Theatre Group, and also in mime with Lindsay Kemp, a well-known teacher and performer who worked closely with David Bowie and Kate Bush throughout their respective careers.
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From RTÉ Archives, Thom McGinty features on an episode of fashion show Head 2 Toe in 1994
McGinty moved to Dublin in 1976 in the hope of securing a job at the National College of Arts and Design. When that did not happen as planned, McGinty became associated with the Dandelion Market area of the city, located near the site of today's St. Stephen’s Green. His first Dublin character was born – 'The Dandelion Clown’ - who held a sign emblazoned "in love with the country but unable to get employment, please give generously".
A self-described ‘colourful pseudo-beggar’, The Dandelion Clown would throw a quick wink to a passer-by who would offer some money. The character of The Diceman evolved from a games shop on South Anne Street of the same name. McGinity created the white-faced and shrouded character and would advertise for Diceman Games for three years. The moniker was given to McGinty by Dubliners and it stuck thereafter.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, McGinty would advertise for prominent businesses, corporations, and festivals in Dublin and throughout Ireland including the Rose of Tralee festival, the British Tourist Board, the Irish Motor Show, John Player Tops of the Town and well-known Dublin shops such as Bewley's Café. McGinty even appeared as Dracula at an exhibition about Bram Stoker in Trinity College Dublin.
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From RTÉ Archives, Colm Connolly reports for RTÉ News on the Irish Motor Show in 1986, including an appearance from The Diceman
Grafton Street was pedestrianised in 1982, changing the street life and enabling more street entertainers to perform. McGinty’s art included the ‘human statue’ for which he was well known. Standing perfectly still on a crowded street, large crowds of onlookers gathered, from laughing children to curious adults, and stop, stare, leave some coins, or even poke and prod McGinty, to provoke a movement or one of his trademark winks and kisses. McGinty talked about some onlookers becoming so transfixed as they looked at him that they too became still as statues.
To frustrate the gardaí’s enforcement of loitering laws, McGinty developed what he called a ‘Zen walk’, where he would move in an impossibly slow procession through Grafton Street, and where passers by said it looked more like he was floating than walking. One of his most famous characters was ‘Mona McGinty’. A take on Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, McGinty donned a wooden box frame that covered his body from the waist up as he wore a black wig and the famous pose and facial expression of the painting.
McGinty also took part in many stage performances. He acted in Operating Theatre's production of Garcia Lorca's The Love of Don Perlimpin for Bellissa in the Garden at the Project Arts Centre in 1984, and in Frank McGuinness' monologue The Glass God in 1982. On the Gate Theatre stage, McGinty was part of the ensemble for Steven Berkoff’s production of Oscar Wilde's Salomé, which was designed by Robert Ballagh and composed by Roger Doyle. The production starred Olwen Fouéré, Joe Savino, David Heap, Barbara Brennan, among others, and transferred to the Edinburgh Festival in 1989.
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From RTÉ Archives, Kathleen O'Meara reports for RTÉ News in 1991 on charges brought against Thom McGinty over public indecency and breach of the peace
Away from Dublin, McGinty played the role of ‘God’ in the Macnas parade, Noah’s Ark, through the streets of Galway as part of the 1993 Arts Festival. As a gay man in early 1990s Ireland, where homosexuality was still a crime, playing God was a powerful artistic and political statement.
McGinty ended up before the courts in 1991 after advertising for a production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at Dublin’s SFX hall. Dressed in a basque, fishnet stockings and g-string, McGinty was arrested on grounds of indecency. He was charged but the Probation Act was applied and a conviction not recorded.
Speaking to RTÉ News outside the court in September 1991, McGinty said he felt vilified and censored as an artist: "My costume, my artistic taste has been called indecent. The shape of my body has been called indecent ... To a certain extent that is insulting to me as a creative artist and as a physical man."
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From RTÉ Archives, Thom McGinty's 1994 appearance on The Late Late Show with Gay Byrne
In November 1994, less than three months before he died, McGinty appeared on The Late Late Show on RTÉ television. The interview with Gay Byrne began with McGinty openly discussing his HIV diagnosis, which he described as "like being hit by a sledgehammer." By then, McGinty was no longer able to perform on the streets due to illness but spoke of his willingness to help and speak to others also diagnosed with AIDS and HIV.
McGinty died February 20th 1995 aged 42. In one final act of performance, his coffin processed through Grafton Street, attended by Dublin’s Lord Mayor and over 2,000 people who stood to acknowledge The Diceman one last time.
Marking McGinty’s life and contribution to Dublin and Ireland’s cultural scene, Dermot Bolger wrote that he was "the High King of all the diversity without which any society cannot grow". The remarkable public outpouring of affection for McGinty among the Dublin public is testament to how he endeared himself to the city, people and daily life. His activism and empathy for the LGBT community and his work to challenge the stigma towards AIDS in Ireland of the time through his art places McGinty as a significant figure in the cultural and social history of modern Ireland.
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