Legendary Irish actress Maureen O’Hara celebrated her 95th birthday last week and tributes came in thick and fast for the star.
Thanks to the power of YouTube people from countries all over the world were able to upload video clips of themselves wishing O’Hara a happy birthday and giving a brief message about what she has meant to them in their lives.
There were plenty of kind messages for O’Hara. Cathy Maguire said: “You are the greatest actress Ireland has ever turned out and you are a national treasure.”
Skye Cranney said: “Thankyou for inspiring generations of young women like me to be what they want to be.”
The video messages were organised by the Maureen O’Hara Magazine who wanted to make sure people got a chance to let their heroine know how much she meant to them.
June Parker Beck, who is the founder of the Maureen O’Hara magazine said that seeing the number of people who contributed: “brought tears to my eyes.”
The videos were shared with O’Hara who enjoyed her birthday celebrations surrounded by friends and family.
Beck told Irish America: “We were quite thrilled to be a part of it. It was an incredible experience seeing this cross section of fans – some as young as 15 and spanning three generations, tell Maureen how she has inspired them over the years.”
O’Hara is one of Ireland’s favourite daughters having been a huge Hollywood star for decades and appearing in iconic movies such as the Quiet Man.
She even leant her support to a campaign to save White O’Morn – the famous cottage from the Quiet Man, which has fallen into ruin.
It is no surprise that people from all around the world were queuing up to wish her many happy returns.
The birthday greetings came from people of many different generation as well as different countries.
Take a look at some of the best videos below.
Happy Birthday from June Beck
Happy Birthday from Paddy McCormick
Happy Birthday from Skye Cranney
Happy Birthday from Karen, Ilaria and Sara
Happy Birthday from Ralna English
Happy Birthday from Cathy Maguire
Happy Birthday from Jacob Briggs
Happy Birthday from your local Book Club
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