Billa O'Connell: A funny man, a family man and a gentleman
Billa O'Connell with his wife Nell in 2013 after he was conferred with the Freedom of the City of Cork. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
‘Come in, ya witch!’ were the words greeting me as I hesitated at the door of the late Pat Murray’s hospital room. The welcome came from Pat’s other visitor, Billa O’Connell, who in the past might have had, indeed, some reason to berate me. Except that he never did.
Equally, his greeting that evening in the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork was more one of affection than malice; the hilarity it provoked was much needed and fed more laughter for the next thirty minutes because, like so many others, I never minded being the butt of Billa’s humour. For Pat, a theatre designer who had worked with Billa for many years and in all kinds of circumstances, the entertainment was that of being the audience.
