Hollywood star to receive Freedom of Kells in May

The legendary Hollywood actress, Maureen O'Hara, is to receive the Freedom of Kells on Saturday 26th May next. The star of 'The Quiet Man' will be bestowed with the freedom of the town after unveiling a bust in her honour at Bective Square, during a weekend of celebrations to mark her association with the town. The actress, who lives in Glengarriff, Co Cork, is now in her early 90s. Her father was a native of Kells, although she was born in Dublin. She was a regular visitor to Kells to see her uncle Frank, who was a blacksmith in the town, and she still has relatives in the area. Ms O'Hara will arrive in Kells on Saturday 26th May in a cavalcade with a garda motorcycle escort, and will be met by the members of the Reserve Defence Force (RDF), Kells Brass Band and local schoolchildren, before unveiling the bust at Bective Square and receiving the freedom of the town. She will attend a dance in the Headfort Arms Hotel that night and also plans to attend a Shamrock Rovers v Kells Blackwater soccer match at Grange at 2pm the next day, as well as an event at Headfort Golf Club.