Tributes Pour In For Much-Loved ‘Father Ted’ Actress Doreen Keogh

James Fenton

Tributes have been pouring in for Dublin actress Doreen Keogh who has passed away aged 91.

She had been suffering from Alzheimer’s and died peacefully at St Columba’s Hospital in Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, her family confirmed.

She made her name as Concepta Riley, the first ever barmaid to pull a pint in the Rover’s Return on Coronation Street, before going on to appear in Cold Feet. Keogh achieved a new wave of popularity by starring as the dithery neighbour Mary Carroll in The Royle Family. She was also an original cast member on RTÉ’s Fair City.

She is perhaps best known to the younger generation of Irish viewers as Mrs. Dineen, a friend and antagonist of Mrs. Doyle’s in Father Ted. The below scene where the pair argue over who pays a hefty tea bill remains one of the most popular in the history of the iconic sitcom.

Fans have taken to Twitter to share their tributes and memories of the much-loved Dubliner.

Sad news that a couple of people have mentioned tonight that Doreen Keogh who was Mrs Dineen in Father Ted and Mary in The Royle Family passed away on 31st December. pic.twitter.com/a3WB9s7gbl

— Fr Dougal McGuire (@DougalMacGuire) January 2, 2018

Devastated to hear the sad news of Doreen Keogh’s passing. I loved each and every one of her characters from across her career, from Concepta Hewitt in Corrie, Audrey Gifford in Cold Feet and of course The Royle Family’s Mary.

Utterly wonderful. RIP ?? pic.twitter.com/nFRJELbuaj

— Michael Adams (@MichaelAdamsUk) January 2, 2018

If one more cast member of the Royle Family dies I swear ???? RIP Doreen Keogh aka little Irish Mary ?? pic.twitter.com/alHrPIwe6l

— Ryan Gavan (@RyanGavo) January 2, 2018

Saddened to hear of the passing of the lovely Doreen Keogh, a wonderful actress whose delightful laugh I’ll never forget. Not many Coronation Street originals left now.

— Daran Little (@DaranLittle) January 2, 2018

Sad news that a couple of people have mentioned tonight and was also in the @IrishMirror yesterday that Doreen Keogh who was Mrs Dineen in Father Ted and Mary in The Royle Family passed away on 31st December 2017. #RIPDoreenKeogh ???? pic.twitter.com/byqU6m68xn

— Father Cyril McDuff (@Cyril_McDuff) January 3, 2018

Doreen Keogh RIP. You may remember her as Concepta in Coronation Street or much more recently as Mary (Jim and Barbara’s neighbours) in The Royle Family.

— Marcus Stead (@MarcusStead) January 3, 2018

Doreen Keogh (as Concepta Riley) arrives back at The Rovers Return in December 1960, thankfully Granada valued and kept Coronation Street! pic.twitter.com/pivsxQTF2J

— Crossroads Motel (@crossroadssoap) January 2, 2018

Doreen Keogh was born in 1926 and grew up in Clontarf.