Clodagh Finn: Comic genius of Maureen Potter should be celebrated

A Potter centenary might prompt some general discussion on the lack of visibility of Irish women in the streets of our cities, towns, and villages

Maureen Potter firmly put paid to the ridiculous notion that women aren’t funny.

The 100th anniversary of Maureen Potter’s birthday on January 3, 1925, passed without much fanfare, but we can still kickstart a centenary celebration to honour this exceptional woman, a comic genius who graced stage and screen for seven decades.

“She could dance, sing, tell jokes but, above all, she had funny bones,” comedian Pauline McLynn once said of “this remarkable, tiny little woman [4ft 11’’] with a huge voice”.