Arts Week with Dave O’Connell

The death of Jon Kenny at the age of just 66 brought the curtain down on a career in the world of entertainment that was as visionary as it was varied – and the Limerick man always acknowledged that Galway played a fundamental part in that story.   In an interview with this paper exactly two years ago, Jon recalled his formative days in the world of comedy when night after night he packed out in the old Hilltop Hotel, owned by the Mulholland family, in Salthill.

“I remember it all so vividly – and they are very fond memories. It was more than just doing comedy gigs; I always felt that I was taken into the Mulholland family,” he said.

“Mrs Mulholland was there herself, still clearly the matriarch, the boss – and it was John and Billy and Gerry and Eamon; they made me feel like one of their own. They were great nights and an important time for me.”

That wasn’t his only Galway connection of course because, apart from filling so many venues across the county with his compatriot Pat Shortt as D’Unbelievables, he also worked with Druid on a number of productions – including Martin McDonagh’s Lonesome West – as did his old comedy partner, underlining their versatility as so much more than just stand-up men.

Jon died after a long battle with cancer and with heart failure, but even in the throes of illness, he always brushed it away.

Two years ago – when he was starring in Martin McDonagh’s Banshees of Inisherin as Gerry, reuniting with his old sidekick Pat Shortt as Jonjo – he typically joked about his recurring illness.

“I had a blast of cancer, but they whipped out a bit of my lung – and we’re good to go again,” was how he puts it.

His cancer had returned during the Covid lockdown after several years in remission, but he continued to work on so many different projects – including a memoir and a new play with Connemara-born, London-based playwright Brid Fitzpatrick called the Brothers.

Pictured: Jon Kenny…Galway was such a part of his story.