McCabe’s career explored sectarianism and the legacy of colonialism, Michael D Higgins said.
Born in Scotland of emigrant parents who returned to Ireland in the early 40s, McCabe grew up in Clones, Co Monaghan.
He was one of Ireland’s top contemporary writers and his canon included his first play to meet with success, King Of The Castle, which won an Irish Life Theatre Award in 1964.
Rest In Peace, Eugene McCabe, author, playwright and pacifist who has died at the age of 90. In 2006 Eugene wrote an essay which is re-published in the 2019 edition of 'Hunger Strike - Reflections' and can be read on the Bobby Sands Trust website - https://t.co/B33EYp0OOX pic.twitter.com/0wn1rfZJtj
— Danny Morrison (@molloy1916) August 27, 2020
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His 1992 novel Death And Nightingales was regarded by many as a contemporary classic and was recently adapted for television by BBC Two.
McCabe spent most of his life on his border farm near Clones.
Mr Higgins said: “His considerable skill as a storyteller was applied in a wide variety of styles and genres, be it novels, short stories, plays or writing for children.
“He explored complex themes, including the legacy of colonialism and the hatred inherent in sectarianism.
The world of Irish theatre has lost someone who was a powerful and original contributor to Irish letters
“Like few others, Eugene McCabe was able to capture the complexity of differing viewpoints, and particularly of those confronted with bigotry and fundamentalism.”
The president said the writer will be remembered for an outstanding contribution to Irish theatre, for his award-winning television plays and for a body of work that confronted, with courage, issues in Irish society.
He added: “The world of Irish theatre has lost someone who was a powerful and original contributor to Irish letters.”
Arts Minister Catherine Martin said McCabe was a master storyteller and dramatist.
“While he produced a great volume of literary works, he will probably be best remembered for his trilogy of plays which he wrote in the early 70s based on the differing traditions in Northern Ireland,” she said.
“These plays received critical acclaim and were produced and screened by RTE in 1973.”
