Moira Hoey:MOIRA HOEY, who has died aged 88, played the part of Mary Riordan in the long-running rural soap The Riordanswhich was first screened by RTÉ in 1965.
Known then as Moira Deady, she continued in the role until the series ended in 1979.
She played the wife of Tom Riordan, a farmer, played by John Cowley. The couple, along with their eldest son Benjy (Tom Hickey) and his wife Maggy (Biddy White Lennon), were at the heart of the action during the course of the series.
Set in the fictional townland of Leestown in Kilkenny, although filmed on location in Dunboyne, Co Meath, The Riordanswas immensely popular. In 1971 the Limerick Evening Echoreported that the programme was back "with a bang", nowhere more so than in the parish of Caherline where it was announced that Sunday evening devotions had been rescheduled for 7.15pm to avoid clashing with the show.
Not all churchmen were comfortable with The Riordans, particularly since it dealt with issues such as mixed marriage, marital breakdown and contraception at a time when the liberal agenda was unheard of.
The programme also had an educational dimension, promoting new farming methods and farm safety.
James Douglas, who devised the series, Wesley Burrowes and Eugene McCabe wrote scripts of a high standard, which directors like Lelia Doolan and Pat O’Connor transformed into quality television drama.
But it was the actors who brought the drama to life, attracting the viewers and holding their attention. Ken Gray in this newspaper in 1969 wrote of Moira Hoey and her colleagues: “The more I see of it, the more admiration I have for the manner in which . . . the key characters have almost taken on a life of their own.”
Other members of the cast included Tony Doyle, Chris O’Neill and, in the final episodes, Gabriel Byrne.
Born Moira Deady in Cork, she cut her teeth as an actor in fit-ups and worked in mainstream theatre before joining the cast of The Riordans. The role fitted her like a glove.
Tom Hickey described Mary Riordan as the archetypal mother. “She was fierce in defence of her family,” he said
Writer Wesley Burrowes said: “Moira was a great talker. She could talk the hind legs off a donkey and that became part of her character on-screen.”
Mary Riordan blazed the trail for the frenetic tea-making of Mrs Doyle in Father Ted. Her response to every crisis, real or imagined, was to say: "Ah, you'll have a nice cup of tea."
Controversy followed when The Riordanswas axed in 1979. Cost was given as the main reason, as funding was required for RTÉ's second television channel. The matter was raised in Dáil Éireann, however, to no avail. The show was later adapted for radio but was not a great success.
Moira Hoey appeared in the two successor shows of The Riordanson television – Brackenand Glenroe.
She worked on stage throughout her career. In the 1960s she appeared in plays such as Francey, with Leo McCabe, and Carrie, starring Ray McAnally, both at the Olympia. In the 1970s she was a member of the Four-in-One Players, with whom she toured in Peg O' My Heart.
Her film credits include This is My Father(1998), Angela's Ashes(1999) and The Tiger's Tale(2006), as well as a number of shorts.
Lelia Doolan this week said: “I always enjoyed the encounters between herself and Tom, Minnie (Annie D’Alton) and Batty (Frank O’Donovan). They were the touchstones and anchors of the whole series. And her art had as much to do with her sensitive and experienced approach as an actress as it had to do with her mothering presence and all the cups of tea.
"She was a lovely, warm, humorous spirit. It was great to see her again, looking so bonny, in the recent documentary about The Riordansand I also delighted in her beautifully mad performance as the granny in Damien O'Donnell's Thirty Five Aside."
RTÉ director general Cathal Goan said: "As matriarch of The Riordansshe was never less than persuasive, moving, entertaining and wonderfully convincing."
Her son Kevin said her family had a great sense of pride in her achievements. She was a staunchly independent woman who managed to balance her family and her career “at a time when it was not fashionable for women to do so”.
She was married to the actor Johnny Hoey, another stalwart of The Riordans, who predeceased her. She is survived by her son Kevin and daughters Mary, Bernie and Brenda.
Moira Hoey (née Deady): born 1922; died November 15th, 2010.