Paddy Comerford will be sorely missed

SO, the hugely talented Paddy Comerford has left this world. He should not have gone yet.

I always thought Paddy could have achieved success on the international stage but he chose not to leave his beloved city, wife, family and friends. He appeared in many of the productions that I directed at The Cork Opera House and I have many happy memories of his performances. In the pantomime Cinderella when he and Billa as the ugly sisters translated a scene into the Cork dialect, which the audience found hilarious but I didn’t understand, not a word, although Frank Duggan and I had written it.

I remember, too, the occasion, (Mother Goose) when Paddy as a clown, singing with the Tiny Tots, lifted up an angelic four year old to sing Getting To Know You, a number meant to be charming but ruined when the said little angel declared loudly to the audience that she could see right up his nose. My most treasured memory, though, is of Paddy on the first night of Guys and Dolls. As the character Nicely, Nicely Johnson he sang Sit Down You’re Rocking The Boat but the audience didn’t sit down, they gave him a standing ovation. We last met when I was over to join in the tribute to Eileen Nolan of The Montforts. It was a joy to be in his company. He will be much missed.