On the Town: There were tears, applause and standing ovations for many of the women presented with awards at a gala dinner in Dublin this week. Many cried when Christine Buckley was awarded the Irish Tatler Woman of the Year special recognition award.
Buckley, who was reared in Dublin's Goldenbridge orphanage, was saluted with a standing ovation for being "one of the great champions of justice in Ireland".
There was also a standing ovation for Mary Davis, who was voted the overall Irish Tatler Woman of the Year for being "truly inspirational" as chief executive officer of the Special Olympics World Summer Games.
Anna Manahan said she was "stunned and speechless" when she received the Woman of the Year Drama Award. The Waterford actress will be featuring in an omnibus edition of Fair City playing opposite T.P. McKenna. The special episode will be screened before Christmas, she said.
Loretto Brennan Glucksman, chairwoman of the American Ireland Funds, was awarded the International Woman of the Year.
Louise Kennedy, who attended with her sister, Caroline Kennedy, and general manager of her company, Paddy Bollard, was voted fashion designer of the year.
Awards were presented to women in 13 different categories. Nominations are made by readers of the Irish Tatler magazine and the winners are chosen by a judging panel, chaired by Norma Smurfit. Among those present at the gala dinner were singer Mary Coughlan and her husband, Frank Bonadio; sisters Mary Banotti MEP and Nora Owen, and Women of the Year judges Celia Larkin and actor and writer Pauline McLynn.
Another recipient of a Woman of the Year award was writer Sheila O'Flanagan, just back from the Vancouver Writers' Festival. She was there with her partner, Colm McCashin. Her eighth book, Too Good to be True, is published by Headline.
Winner of the Woman of the Year Business Award was Mary Ann O'Brien, founder and managing director of Lily O'Brien Chocolates in Newbridge, Co Kildare. She founded The Jack and Jill Foundation with her husband, Jonathan Irwin, in 1997 to provide respite care for developmentally impaired babies. The secret of her success in business, she said, is "a sense of humour and determination, but delegation is the key".
Geraldine Kennedy won the Woman of the Year Media Award. The other winners were songwriter Gemma Hayes, ladies' footballer Cora Staunton, camogie player Una O'Dwyer, playwright Marie Jones and the great stage veteran Maureen Potter.