Joan O’Hara died on Monday 23 July. The skilled actress, who was in her 70s, had not been in good health for some time.

I had the privilege of interviewing her some time ago. As ‘Fair City’s’ Eunice Phelan, Joan O’Hara achieved the balance between being utterly irritating though strangely lovable.

There were two sides to her character– the busybody who thrives on everybody’s misfortune and the lonely old woman, although according to the lady who played her “how could she be lonely with all the time she spent in McCoys?”

A veteran of both stage and screen, the Sligo native grew up with an almost inevitable desire to become involved in theatrics. Her parents, she said saw “a film star” and were convinced of her talents. Many years later local drama productions followed and she later studied in the renowned Abbey School of Acting. Professional training she felt was “essential.”

In the late 1950s Joan moved to the UK and found her theatrical life somewhat restricted with three young children to raise. Her children have undoubtedly inherited a little of her creativity with son Sebastian Barry making a name for himself as a successful author and playwright.

At the time of our interview Joan was already eagerly anticipating the staging of his most recent play on tour in England and with Dublin its eventual destination. “It’s called ‘Our Lady of Sligo’ and is based on me,” she revealed with more than a hint of pride. “It stars the Cusack sisters Sinead and Catherine as myself and my mother so it’s a bit incestuous.”

Joan was the ideal co star for Brenda Fricker in Joseph O’Connor’s ‘The Weeping of Angels’ at the Gate. This comedy centred around three elderly nuns reflecting on life and encountering a few difficulties along the way. Though wheelchair-bound, blind and almost deaf, she was still manipulative, mischievous and poignant.

And back to ‘Fair City’. And to Eunice, the woman we’re most familiar with. “I loved it because they gave me a bit of leeway and I really play myself. I kind of play her from my own point of view. She thinks she knows everything,” laughed Joan, “but you can’t dislike her.

“Acting,” Joan continued, “is a simple task. I don’t have angst about it and have to put a bit of myself into each character. I just hope that by what I do I bring some joy.”
That she did.