She used her "God-given talents to bring so much joy and so much laughter to so many people", mourners at the funeral of actress and comedienne Maureen Potter were told at the weekend.
Father Dermot Laycock said she had run a good race and fought a good fight, and described her life as a challenge and a race to be run.
He told the congregation at St Brigid's Church in Killester that Maureen Potter was blessed with a sense of comic timing which she polished and perfected throughout her life. "She worked hard to perfect the talent and she completed what she was here to do. In later years she did the logical thing and accepted her illness with great serenity."
Father Laycock referred to Maureen Potter's many acting achievements, and her awards in recognition of her contribution to Irish theatre. He told how, in 1959, she married Jack O'Leary. "They were a great team," he said. The eternal optimist came to mind, Father Laycock continued, when thinking of Maureen, and how she would say: "I like to think that around every corner something wonderful is going to happen."
During the funeral service, music was provided by a choir, and included a rendition of Moonlight and Roses, which was composed in 1925, the year of Ms Potter's birth. As her coffin was carried from the church to sustained applause, the choir sang Dublin In the Rare Oul' Times. Her life was again applauded by members of the public, many of whom had gathered outside the church gates, as the hearse left for Clontarf cemetery.
Among the many members of the world of theatre there were actors Alan Stanford, Rosaleen Linehan and her husband, theatre critic Fergus Linehan, Pauline McLynn, John Kavanagh, Adele King, Geraldine Plunkett and Anna Manahan. From the world of entertainment were Ronnie Drew, Brendan Balfe, Hal Roche, Billie Barry, Johnny Logan, Eugene Lambert, Jim Bartley, Aonghus McAnally, Des Keogh, John McColgan and Moya Doherty. Former Dublin City manager Frank Feely was also there.
The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Mr Royston Brady, attended, while the President, Mrs McAleese, was represented by her aide-de-camp, Cmdt Michael Treacy, and the Taoiseach by his aide-de-camp, Cmdt Michael Murray. Chief mourners were her husband Jack O'Leary, sons John and Hughy O'Leary and their wives and families. Maureen Potter was 79.
