SADLY GAZING ON THE GLOOM

Stephen Mc Kenna writes: “This is a picture which recalls one of the saddest of times in TP’s life, and very much mirrors the grief that we, his children, experience now. The year is 1973 and the picture was taken a couple of days after TP had buried his father, Ralph.

Although only a rough and ready snap taken on an instamatic by his sister, Una, the sadness in the image is palpable as TP stands contemplating the fresh grave at the family plot in Moynalty. On the side of the monument, just visible, are the names of his grandfather, a great uncle and great aunt.

Though I was only ten years old, I vividly recall the sense of loss that Dad suffered at this time. The pall of his grief seemed to last forever and even in one of their final visits to TP in hospital, towards the end of his own life, sisters Annette and Sally spent their time reminiscing with TP about ‘Daddy’.

TP would recall his father as a stern figure in his early life, but also an immensely warm and loving father, held in great devotion by all his children. While initially, Ralph McKenna was both horrified and terrified at his son’s decision to seek a life on the stage, it would not be long before he would grow to be immensely proud of his son’s talent. With TP’s mother, May, they’d often journey up to Dublin to see his latest performance at the Queen’s Theatre where he would becoming a leading member of the Abbey company. During the interval he would engage other theatre goers in the bar in conversation. Canvassing their opinion on the show so far, he’d ‘innocently’ enquire, what they thought of ‘that young McKenna fella’. Invariably, receiving a keen response he’d proudly reveal himself as the actor’s father.

And so now, it is we that are immensely proud of TP and all his accomplishments, but what we will nurture most tenderly, as he with his own father, is the memory of the enormous love and concern he extended to each of us all of his life.”