THE TIMES WE LIVED IN:CELEBRITIES UNDER the hammer? Nowadays the phrase has a relentlessly red-top ring, but on this photographic occasion it was not only good-humoured, but in a good cause as well. At a charity auction in aid of Rehab at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, a selection of glitterati of the day were offered for sale – including the three women featured in our photograph.
On the left, the young Biddy White-Lennon would already have been familiar to Irish telly-watchers for her role as Maggie in The Riordans.
In pole position in the centre of the picture is the rally driver Rosemary Smith, sporting a short-sleeved fun fur worn over – and watch out for this look to be revived any day now, folks – a long-sleeved shirt. And look at those earrings: she wasn’t wearing those while whizzing around the racetrack at Monte Carlo. On the right is the Texaco sports star of the year for 1973, Mary Tracey, who was to hold the Irish records for the 800 metres, 1,500 metres and 3,000 metres until 1976 – and who did it all, this photo suggests, while in possession of the best-behaved wavy haircut this side of Kevin Keegan.
It’s a standard social column sort of image. But whether the photographer was aware of it or not (probably not) he was snapping three women who were highly visible and influential in Ireland in the 1970s. All three made for pretty impressive role models for a generation of Irish women, making a go of it in high-profile areas which had traditionally been dominated by men.
Smith, in particular, carved her name with pride in a sport which – even now – regards women as decorative appendages rather than plausible participants. Tracey was one of the first batch of celebrity female athletes, a species which, as the current batch of Olympic hopefuls demonstrates, is up and running. But it’s White-Lennon who takes the gold medal.
She may look distinctly ill at ease in the the photo, but in the quarter-century since The Riordans was axed, she has confidently reinvented herself as a chef, food expert and author of a plethora of bestselling cookbooks. Recipe for success? You’d better believe it.
