Irish writer Alphie McCourt has died at the age of 75.

Alphie was the youngest brother of Pulitzer Prize winning author Frank McCourt.

He was born in Limerick in 1940 before emigrating to America in 1959 – in 2009 he published his own memoirs entitled A Long Stone’s Throw.

Speaking following his death, Professor Joseph O’Connor said Alphie was “a gifted writer, gentle, funny, courteous and a witty man”.