President Michael D Higgins has led the tributes to the Irish actress Maureen O'Hara who passed away on Saturday at her home in the US. She was 95.
President Higgins described her as an outstanding and versatile actress whose work would endure for many years to come.
One of Ireland's best known and loved performers, Maureen O'Hara was a trailblazer in Hollywood for the Irish actors that followed.
Her screen career spanned seven decades and she was loved by generations of film fans for her role as Mary Kate opposite her great friend John Wayne in John Ford's The Quiet Man.
Born Maureen FitzSimons in Ranelagh in Dublin in 1920, she trained at the Abbey Theatre before pursuing her acting career in the US.
Her other credits included Jamaica Inn, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, How Green Was My Valley, Miracle on 34th Street, Sinbad the Sailor, Rio Grande, The Parent Trap and Only the Lonely.
In 1939, at the age of 19, Maureen O'Hara secretly married Englishman George H Brown, a film producer. The marriage was annulled in 1941.
Later that year, she married American film director William Houston Price but that marriage ended in 1953. They had one child, a daughter.
She married her third husband, Charles F Blair Jr, in 1968. A pioneer of transatlantic aviation, he died in 1978 in an air accident. She will be laid to rest next to him in Arlington National Cemetery in the US state of Virginia.
A holder of dual Irish-US citizenship, Maureen O'Hara received an honorary Oscar in 2014, an IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004 and a British Film Institute Fellowship in 1993.
Having lived in Glengarriff, Co Cork for many decades, she moved to Idaho in 2013 to be closer to her family.
A statement from her family read: "Maureen was our loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend. She passed peacefully surrounded by her loving family as they celebrated her life listening to music from her favorite movie, The Quiet Man."
The statement continued: "Her characters were feisty and fearless, just as she was in real life. She was also proudly Irish and spent her entire lifetime sharing her heritage and the wonderful culture of the Emerald Isle with the world."
"While we mourn the loss of a very wonderful woman, we also celebrate her remarkable life and hope that it serves as an example to young people around the world, especially in Ireland, to work hard to make their dreams come true and to always have the courage to stand up for themselves," her family added.
"For those who may ask what they can do to honour Maureen, we have a simple request: visit Ireland one day and think of her."
Renowned for her sense of humour on screen and off, Maureen O'Hara wrote in her 2004 memoir 'Tis Herself that she had decided to chronicle her life "before some self-serving writer pens a heap of rubbish about me after I'm gone from this earth".
On the eve of her 95th birthday in August, she said: "It's been a good life. I've had a wonderful career and enjoyed making movies. I was fortunate to have made pictures with many of the greats, both actors and directors. I've no regrets."
#RIPMaureenOHara / I loved you very much Beautiful Lady
— ally sheedy (@allysheedy1) October 24, 2015
Paying tribute, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys, described Maureen O'Hara as the quintessential Irish success story and an icon of Hollywood's Golden Age.
"Maureen had a hugely successful career spanning over 60 years," said the Minister. "She will, however, be best remembered for her fiercely passionate roles in classic films and in particular the films she made with her great friend John Wayne."
Visit our tribute gallery here.
I'm very sad to hear that the great Maureen O Hara has died. An amazing woman. Not just the most beautiful but a... https://t.co/jlpGrTdh6x
— Imelda May (@ImeldaOfficial) October 24, 2015
Áine Moriarty, Chief Executive of the Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA), said that Maureen O'Hara would always be remembered very fondly by her fellow members of IFTA and would always hold a special place in their hearts.
Maureen O'Hara talking to Nationwide's Mary Kennedy on the eve of her 90th birthday in 2010
Maureen O’Hara is making the heavens swirl. pic.twitter.com/8IR3xinjfZ
— Greg Proops (@GregProops) October 24, 2015
Very sad news of the passing of a Great in many ways & a Great @ShamrockRovers supporter forever RIP Maureen O'Hara pic.twitter.com/5j6CxBxRyc
— Shamrock Rovers F.C. (@ShamrockRovers) October 24, 2015
Sad to hear of the death of another cinematic icon. RIP Maureen O'Hara. You shall ever be an Irish legend. pic.twitter.com/7sdFkT39jJ
— Scannain (@Scannain_com) October 24, 2015
