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Athenry, Co.Galway, Ireland

Athenry Local News Archive

Kitty Lardner (1916-2005)

I remember meeting Kitty on the street last October and she told me that it was her birthday. Two fat ladies she said, with a smile ( bingo-speak for 88). I met her again on Saturday afternoon last, on North Gate Street. I spent all morning turning over and over in my head , she said, would Seamus (Fahy) have lived if they sent him to hospital? . She walked down towards the Castlegate Hotel for her lunch and I never saw her alive again.

It has been a bad week for Athenry, especially for its older, established families. Just last Thursday, Kitty Lardner walked up to this altar at the funeral mass of her friend Seamus Fahy, bearing a gift of an old programme and a script of Oscar Wilde s The Importance Of Being Earnest which had been staged by Athenry Drama Group in 1971. Seamus was stage-manager and Kitty played Lady Bracknell. She was heartbroken. Seamus was like a son to her.

I spoke with an old school-friend on Sunday morning, the day after her sudden death. He compared her passing to& turning into North Gate Street and seeing the Arch gone . It is no exaggeration to say that she was an icon, an institution, a legend, loved and respected by all who knew her. Her body may have been two fat ladies , but her mind was that of a much younger person. Always alert, always a good listener, she had a wise view to offer on almost any topic.

She worked for many years as a supervisor/telephonist at Athenry Post Office but it was on the stage, when amateur drama was at the height of its popularity in Ireland, that she made the greatest mark.

She played scores of leading female roles through six decades with her beloved Athenry Players and when Monday s Evening Press published its regular round of festival results, the name of Kitty Lardner would invariably appear either as Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress or in latter years, Best Producer.

Her Lady Bracknell was a classic interpretation and she will also be remembered for magnificent performances throughout Ireland as Mena Glavin in Sive , Laura in Strindberg s The Father , Maimie Flanagan in The Field , Bessie Burgess in The Plough And The Stars and the title-role in Margaret Gillan . In recent years she would joke that people often came to her following a production by the current drama group saying: I saw you in the play, you were great! when in fact she had not been on the stage for quite a few years though she continued to play a background role.

As an adult, she turned her hand to painting, an activity which she embraced with the same meticulous dedication and creativity that she had approached everything before. She had an individual style and many of her delicate watercolours are treasured in homes around the parish and further afield. She always seemed pleasantly surprised when anyone actually suggested putting a price on one of her works!

Kitty s other love was her cats. She knew them all by name&Smig, Pansy, Tweeny, Girlie, Beauty, Charlie and others. Her faithful companions are now looking for loving homes. She was an avid reader and exhibited at the Athenry Library Art Exhibition just before Christmas.

Our dear friend Kitty is gone from us. She will be sadly missed by all who knew her. Knowing her has enriched all our lives. May she rest in peace

Francis Kennedy / February 2005