Patrick Kielty has shared an emotional statement on The Late Late Show dedicating the evening to his late mother, Mary Kielty.
While opening up the St. Patrick’s Day episode, the 54-year-old stated that being called Patrick “is always special” and he has one particular person to thank for that gift.
“The person I have to thank for that and so much more is my mum. Sadly we lost her last weekend and I just wanted to say a huge thank to everyone that took care of her,” he said.
Patrick revealed that Mary watched The Late Late “religiously” and “loved it so much.”
“She loved it so much she still kept watching even after I got the gig,” he continued which was met with a laugh from the audience.
For 50 years, his mother “never” missed an episode and the TV host explained that “there’s no way she’d want me to miss this one for her tonight.”
He finished off his heartfelt message by saying: “I couldn’t be prouder to stand here and say: This ones for you Mary. Welcome to The Late Late Show.”
Patrick’s mother passed away last Saturday “peacefully” in her home in Dundrum, Co. Down.
Mary, who was in her 80s, survived her husband Jack as well as her three siblings.
She is now survived by her sons John, Patrick and Cahal, her daughters-in-law Moya, Catherine and Nichola, as well as her seven grandchildren.
A post shared on FuneralTimes.com read that Mary will be “sadly missed and lovingly remembered by her entire family circle, neighbours and friends.”
She became a widow when her husband John Kielty was shot dead by members of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) in 1988.
Patrick was 16 when his father was killed, and in 2023 revealed in the BBC documentary Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland that he only found out after why he was targeted.
“Rather than pay protection money to loyalist paramilitaries he decided to go to the police,” he said.
While Mary’s funeral took place on Monday, Patrick’s wife Cat Deeley remained in London, where she presented Monday’s episode of This Morning as usual alongside her co-host Ben Shephard.
A spokesperson for Cat has since told MailOnline that she stayed in the UK to be with their two sons – Milo, 8, and James, 5 – who went to school as normal.
They said: “Cat remained at home to be there for her two young children before and after school on this very sad day.”
