Father Ted star Pauline McLynn has paid tribute to the late Frank Kelly.
The actress, who played Mrs. Doyle on the legendary sitcom spoke to  Anton Savage on Today FM about her late friend who starred Father Jack from 1995 t0 1998.
“He told me that his local priest and clergy in general did not approve that he was going to marry Barbara because she already had a family and he was hauled over the coals and brought to meet them and talk about it,” she said.
“They said, ‘Why are you going to marry this woman?’ and he said, ‘Because I love her.’ And nobody spoke to them like that in those days.”
Paying tribute: Frank passed away age 77 last week | VIPIRELAND.COM
“And marry her he did and they had so many decades of happiness,” she added.
“My heart goes out to them, because they more than us – we mourned him as a nation, as admirers, those of us like myself lucky enough to spend time and work with him – their loss is is so much harder because they had all of him.”
Pauline broke down and tears and joked that Frank would kill her if he could see her.
“I knew I was going to cry. Bloody hell. He’d kill me if he heard this!” she admitted.
Friend: Pauline discussed her relationship with Frank on Today FM | VIPIRELAND.COM
The TV star explained how lucky Irish society was to have experienced Frank’s talent and insisted we would never see his like again.
“For us now to have lived at a time when we could have a bit of him we don’t know our luck. I really don’t believe we will see his like again.”
Frank died aged 77, exactly eighteen years to the day of fellow Father Ted star Dermot Morgan’s death.
