The journalist and writer, Maeve Binchy, has died following a short illness. She was 72.
She wrote 16 novels which sold more than 40 million copies worldwide.
Her works were particularly well-received in the United States where her most notable readers were the wife of the former President George Bush Senior, Barbara Bush, and the talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
Three of her books, including Circle of Friends, were adapted for the cinema; two were turned into films for television.
Maeve Binchy was born in Dalkey, Co Dublin and studied at University College Dublin.
She initially worked as a teacher before becoming a journalist, columnist and later women's editor at the Irish Times. She then moved to the paper's London office and married author Gordon Snell.
Her early short story collections were based in London and Dublin and featured sharp, funny and often poignant pen pictures of the residents of those cities.
Her first novel, Light a Penny Candle, was published in 1982 and became a bestseller.
Set during and after World War II, it featured many of the elements that were to characterise her work: life in smalltown Ireland, family relationships, humour and a gripping plot.
She went on to publish many other novels among them Circle of Friends and Tara Road, both of which were adapted as feature films.
Although she said she was going to retire in 2000, she continued writing and her last novel, Minding Frankie, was published in 2010.
In the same year she received a lifetime achievement award from the Irish Book Awards. She is survived by her husband Gordon.
You can watch RTÉ One's The Meaning of Life with Gay Byrne featuring Maeve Binchy which was first shown on 3 May, 2009 here.
As a tribute RTÉ One will repeat the documentary, Maeve Binchy - At home in the world at 10.05pm tonight.
