'Fair City' star O'Hara dies

Actress Joan O'Hara best known for her role as Eunice Phelan in the television soap opera Fair City has died, RTE said today.

Actress Joan O'Hara best known for her role as Eunice Phelan in the television soap opera 'Fair City' has died, RTÉ said today.

The Sligo-born woman was also an accomplished theatre actor and had appeared in a number of major films during her career that spanned seven decades.

But it was her role at the centre of countless major storylines in Fair City over 13 years that made her a household name.

Niall Mathews, executive producer of 'Fair City', said the cast and crew were deeply saddened at Joan's death.

"Joan joined the cast of Fair City in November 1994 and has been a member of the core cast since then," he said.

"In that time her portrayal of the eccentric Eunice Phelan has endeared her to hundreds of thousands of viewers," he said.

"She will be deeply missed by all who worked with her in RTÉ and by her host of fans throughout the country."

After her first stage appearance at age 14, as the lead in 'The Demon Piper' at the Sligo Feis, Joan went on to star in works by Brian Friel, Marina Carr, Frank McGuinness and Tom Murphy.

As well as her theatre career she also appeared on the big screen including roles in 'She Didn't Say NO!' (1958), 'Da' (1988) and 'Far And Away' (1992).

On television Joan had previously played Countess Markievicz in the 1966 production of 'Insurrection', and also starred in the television series 'Teems of Times' in 1977.

The following year, in 1978, she starred as Stella in the Maeve Binchy drama 'Deeply Regretted By' which took awards at the Prague Television Festival as well as two Jacob's awards.

Later, in 1994, Joan provided a startling portrait of an Irish mother in RTÉ's 'Two Lives' series.

In real life, she was the mother of acclaimed playwright and author Sebastian Barry.