Ralph Desmond Athanasius Cusack

Ralph Desmond Athanasius Cusack (28 October 1912 – 20 July 1965) was an Irish painter, stage designer, horticulturist and writer active in Ireland and France.

Early life and education Cusack was born on 28 October 1912 at Drumnigh House in Portmarnock to James Robert Roland Cusack, a banker and later stockbroker, and Eileen Cusack . Cusack was the great-grandson of Sir Ralph Smith Cusack and was the younger cousin of the painter Mainie Jellett. During 1942 to 1943, Cusack worked as a set designer with Anne Yeats.

By 1950, Cusack had ceased to paint. The novel was subsequently published in the United States the following year.

On 20 July 1965 died in Grasse, aged 52.

Legacy Anthony Cronin, who boarded for a time with the Cusack family, based the character of Sir George Dermot on Cusack for his 1964 novel The Life of Riley.