honoured Friends and family pay special tribute to author Marian Keyes on the Late Late Show

Family, friends and fellow writers honoured bestselling writer Marian Keyes in a special tribute on the Late Late Show tonight.

The 58-year-old writer was in flying form as her closest friends and family spoke of her warmth, humour and generosity as she appeared on the talk show to discuss her life and career that has made her a household name around the globe.

“This is overwhelmingly lovely,” she said of the gathering.

She revealed how her latest book ‘Again, Rachel’ a sequel to her bestselling hit ‘Rachel’s Holiday’ mirrors her own experience as a recovering alcoholic who eventually sought treatment at Dublin’s Rutland Centre after spiralling into depression and alcoholism after she moved to London in 1986.

Describing how she “partied enthusiastically” when working as a waitress in London after obtaining a law degree from UCD and living in a squat in a tower block.

“I thought ‘this is the feckin life’,” she said of her carefree lifestyle as a young woman before her drinking caught up with her.

“My drinking was never normal,” she said. “Being me was like wearing a pair of really tight-fitting shoes and drinking loosened it up,” she said.

“It was like the only thing that I cared about eventually.”

But fortunately, her father Ted Keyes intervened and she went into rehab and got sober as her career took off.

Among those paying tribute were fellow bestselling Irish writers Liz Nugent and Shelia Flanagan who spoke of how Marian rallied them together in the early 90s to support each other’s work instead of competing against each other as emerging writers.

“We were the first Irish women who wrote about modern life,” Ms Flanagan recalled.

“We had no clue about publishing, we had no idea,” she said.

Liz Nugent also spoke of how Marian warmly welcomed her into her home shortly after being introduced.

“I didn’t expect her to know my name but within a week I was in her house having dinner,” she said.

Meanwhile, pro golfer Leona Maguire (26), who made history as the first Irish woman golfer to win the LPGA Drive on championship in Florida earlier this month, spoke on the show of how her twin sister Lisa and her father Declan Maguire were instrumental in supporting her throughout her career.