Daniel’s Day
April 2009
He won’t be able to graze his sheep on the lush Wicklow hills but Daniel Day Lewis couldn’t give a fig as long as he can roam the countryside on foot.
On Monday, the two-time Academy award winner became the first person to be conferred with the Freedom of Wicklow during a ceremony in Clermont Campus, Rathnew.
Every inch the superstar Day Lewis looked tanned and relaxed as he accepted the honour watched proudly by his wife, playwright Rebecca Miller and his three sons, Gabriel, Roan and Cashel.
Cathaoirleach of Wicklow County Council, Derek Mitchell said it was the highest honour Wicklow could bestow on any resident.
Cllr. Mitchell said Daniel Day Lewis had impressed in many roles from a punk rocker in My Beautiful Laundrette to a Victorian suitor in A Room with a View. He outlined his many achievements including his two Academy Awards for Best Actor.
However he said that it was Daniel Day Lewis’ portrayal of Cerebral Palsy sufferer and writer Christy Brown in My Left Foot that helped raise the issue of disability and Cerebral Palsy.
Morgan O’Sullivan and Kevin Moriarty of Ardmore Studios, Bray were present at the ceremony as were costume designer Joan Bergin and film producer Noel Pearson.
Before Mr. Day Lewis was conferred with the Freedom of the Garden County the guests were entertained by local musicians headed up by Sly Burke who played, amongst other songs, ‘Maybe it’s because I am a Londonder’, before concluding with a Kerry polka from the Gangs of New York.
Syl also noted that Daniel would be celebrating his 52nd birthday today ( Wednesday) and veer- ing off his script, he led the crowd in a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday.
In a message to Daniel Oscar nominated director and fellow Wicklow resident, John Boorman said
‘When they bestowed this well-earned honour, did they realise how much Wicklow freedom you already possessed – biking the ring of the Sally Gap, running in the hills of Glendalough, the woods, the streams, the sandy strands, the dreaming landscape of our spiritual home. This Wicklow freedom, I hope, helps to make up for the loss of freedom that is the price of being a movie star.’