Joan Brosnan Walsh was a veteran Irish actress, best known for her long-running role as the character Mags Kelly on the Irish soap operaFair City, a role she had played for almost twenty years, from 18 September 1989 until her final screen appearance, 11 January 2009. Brosnan Walsh appeared in a number of films such as The Boxer and Fatal Inheritance. She also worked as a costume designer. She first worked for ACNielsen and Aer Lingus, the latter providing her with her first experience of acting. After nearly twenty years she announced her departure from Fair City in January 2009 after declaring that she had contracted motor neurone disease the previous year.
Early life and career
Brosnan Walsh was born in 1938 in Greystones, County Wicklow. She had two other siblings but her mother died when she was young. An aunt raised her in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin. Brosnan Walsh attended the Dominican Convent on Eccles Street before pursuing a career with market researcher ACNielsen. In 1956, she moved to Aer Lingus where she first experienced acting alongside the Metro Players, an amateur group of players which included her colleagues. Brosnan Walsh designed costumes for The Secret Marriage produced by the Irish National Opera in 1976. She acted with Mobile Theatre and Team Theatre Company throughout the 1970s and 1980s, appearing on stage in The Puppeteer from Lodz, The Year of the Hiker at the Gaiety and The Mother. She was member of the Backlane Painters, with whom she exhibited and sold her work.
Family
She married Willie Walsh. The couple had three daughters, Helen, Ruth and Ingrid.
''Fair City''
Brosnan Walsh played the character of Mags Kelly in Fair City for nearly twenty years before her January 2009 departure. Her colleague Dave Duffy, who portrays Leo Dowling, said she got a "terrific send-off" with "champagne and flowers for her and a bit of a party in McCoy's Pub".
Health and death
Brosnan Walsh departed Fair City due to declining health as a result of her motor neurone disease. The "hardest thing" was her loss of singing voice. She appeared on The Late Late Show with husband Willie Walsh, 23 January 2009, to discuss her condition, saying she discovered it whilst on holiday with her neighbour in South France in October 2007. She was then diagnosed the following Spring. Brosnan Walsh also spoke her character and time in Fair City:
I loved the character of Mags, foil to Charlie's shenanigans and I particularly enjoyed her strong relationship with, for example, Dolores, Rita, Dermot and Jo. I really enjoyed playing her.
She had painted since the 1970s but her illness forced her to revert from landscape painting to abstract painting. The audience presented her with a standing ovation at the end. In February 2009, she launched Rare Diseases Week. After Brosnan Walsh's death 20 December 2009 at age 71, the cast of Fair City released the following tribute: "She was warm and lovely in person, a consummate professional and a delight to work with. A talented actress, singer and artist who bore her illness with incredible dignity, she will be very much missed around Carrigstown". Jane Gogan, RTÉ's drama recruiter, said "She has been at the heart of Fair City for the last 20 years and was without doubt one of its most popular characters. She was also one of the most warmly regarded colleagues in RTÉ and will be greatly missed by the Fair City cast and crew and all who worked with her in RTÉ, as well as her host of fans throughout the country".
