Born in the shadow of the Rock of Cashel, the Abbey actress Maire Ni Dhomhnaill recently passed away at the Meath Hospital, Dublin after a long illness. Surrounded by her children, Maire was bright as ever at times, until very close to the end of her life when she lapsed into a deep sleep from which she would awaken, as she herself said, in God's pocket.
Voted Actress of the Year in 1946 for her performance in The Righteous Are Bold, Maire would bring immense power and technique upon the inherent talent granted her by a loving God to every role she played.
Her presence during her 40 and more years of that joyful time when the old Abbey Theatre enjoyed good health (including the period at the Queen's) lit up the life and times of the Abbey company. Though she starred four times in the role of mother, looking after her home, her husband, the late Geoff Golden (a fine character actor and a lifelong member of the Abbey company) and her young family, Maire's real calling seemed to be the stage, and in particular the stage of our national theatre. And for a time, it appeared that there was no heights to which reviewers would climb in their efforts to praise a very long line of stunning performances.
Maire would produce more children in her relationship with another fine actor, Michael Hennessey, she would appear in films, be wooed by the moguls of Hollywood and she would be wanted by the Broadway star, Arthur Kennedy, yet Maire would stay home in Dublin (her favourite place on earth), a working actress until she decided to retire.
A long time ago, someone asked her how long she had been acting. "I've been acting since I was five," she said, with that twinkle of the eye that so many of us loved to witness down the decades. "I've been at it all my life, and I'm still getting away with it."
You shed the body, Maire, like the gown worn in some other role at some other time. But you're with us yet, helping us find a smile in the memory of all your giving and taking. You're still at it, Maire, still getting away with it. And how much loved you are today and every day.
L.D.