Funeral held in Waterford for actor Anna Manahan

The funeral has taken place of Waterford-born actor Anna Manahan who died on Sunday aged 84.

Waterford Cathedral was full to capacity for the funeral mass, something that would have pleased her greatly, according to her friend and local playwright Jim Nolan who delivered the eulogy.

"A full house, a captive audience, the leading role and centre stage where she always belonged," he said.

"How she would have loved all the attention of the last few days, the glowing and deserved tributes to an extraordinary life and career. The newspaper headlines, the radio and television slots and especially this (the funeral itself)."

Dozens of luminaries from stage and screen turned out to pay tribute to the actor, whose whole life was devoted to the stage.

They included playwright and film director Martin McDonagh,director Garry Hynes, playwright Bernard Farrell, actors Bryan Murray, Jim Bartley and Risteárd Cooper , her friend and fellow actors Des Keogh and Phyllis Ryan.

Representing the city of Waterford was the mayor Jack Walsh, who delivered one of the readings, and most of the city council

The Tony Award which Manahan won in 1998 for her performance in The Beauty Queen of Leenanewas placed on the coffin along with a Bible and her photograph.

The offertory procession included the scroll with the Freedom of Waterford which she was granted in 2002 and a copy of McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane.

Fr Bernard Kennedy, of Beechwood parish who delivered the sermon, recalled how she would stand in front of the mirror as a child and act. "As she grew she became a mirror upon which we, her audience, in Ireland, Britain and the United States, saw points of our lives re-inacted with that felt word," he said.

He said Manahan had been described as "the greatest actress of the 20th century".

"The Tony award for The Beauty Queen of Leenane, the Tony nomination for Brian Friel's Lovers, the various awards for her ability attest to that," he said.

Manahan was buried after funeral mass at Ballygunner Cemetery.