‘Greatest comedian we ever produced’ laid to rest

As befitted his long association with laughter, the funeral Mass of the late Hal Roach was coloured with humour.

The large crowd which gathered in the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Foxrock, Co Dublin, yesterday heard the 84-year-old performer who died on Tuesday described by his colleague and friend Brendan Grace as “the greatest comedian Ireland ever produced”.

In a tribute peppered with jokes and anecdotes, the comedian said he had been inspired to enter the profession by his late friend.