Liam Neeson Was Unable To Attend His Mother’s Funeral — Her Passing Was Announced During Church Mass

Dec 15, 2021 by apost team

Liam Neeson is an Irish actor who has received several accolades and awards throughout his career and has been recognized as being one of the greatest film actors to ever come from Ireland. Born on June 7, 1952, he grew up with a love for the arts and worked hard to make his dreams become reality. He joined a theater in 1976 in Belfast before finding work and really making a name for himself just a few years later. He rose to fame in 1993 with the film “Schindler’s List,” and the rest is history.

Since then, Neeson has shown off a wide range of skills as an actor, starring in dramas, thrillers, action films and everything in between. It seems like there’s no role that Neeson can’t tackle. On top of being an astounding actor, he is also a family man. Unfortunately, Neeson has had to face many challenges and hardships in grieving over the loss of several family members, including his late wife, Natasha Richardson, and his late mother, Kitty Neeson.

While losing a loved one is never easy, losing his mother was especially difficult for Neeson as she passed just one day before his birthday in June 2020. Kitty’s death had been announced during a church service in the family’s hometown. On top of that, Neeson wasn’t even able to return to his hometown in Ballymena to attend her funeral due to travel restrictions. It was a devastating time for the actor, and he has since gone on to share fond memories of his late mother.

Although Neeson has been able to enjoy several accomplishments and the beautiful moments of life, he has sadly also gone through his share of hard times. The star has lost a handful of his loved ones but has continued to carry on their memories. 

Neeson’s late wife, Richardson, was tragically killed in a skiing accident in Canada in March 2009, according to the Belfast Telegraph. In 2019, his nephew Ronan Sexton also died, five years after he suffered a serious injury in a fall from a telephone kiosk. The year 2020 brought yet another hardship in Neeson’s life when he lost his mother.

According to the Belfast Telegraph, Kitty’s death was announced by a priest named Father Paddy Delargy at evening mass at All Saints Church in Ballymena. She was 94 years old at the time and had been sick for many months after suffering a fall. Kitty later went to a few nursing homes to help with her recovery. Her death was announced just one day before Neeson turned 68.

Unfortunately, Neeson was absent from his mother’s funeral due to travel difficulties following the lockdown restrictions that were in place during the pandemic at the time. According to the Belfast Telegraph, Neeson had been in New York at the time, and was unable to return to his hometown for his mother’s services.

According to the Belfast Telegraph, Kitty’s funeral service was strictly private with family members attending. A family notice described her as the beloved wife of the late Barney, and mother to Elizabeth, Bernadette, Liam and Rosaleen. The notice also referred to her as a devoted grandmother and great-grandmother.

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Although Neeson and his two sons, Micheál and Daniel were unable to attend Kitty’s funeral in person, they still found a way to mourn the loss and celebrate all of the beautiful moments they shared with Kitty by gathering to watch an internet stream of the service. 

“I lost my mother last June, and it was strange for Micheál  and myself and Micheál’s brother Daniel, for the three of us to be here looking at my mother’s funeral via a computer screen,” he said in March 2021, according to the Irish Post. He added, “That was kind of strange – it was kind of surreal. But before my mum passed away, we would go back – I would go back – twice a year perhaps.”

In the way that Neeson has spoken about his mother over time, it’s clear that she meant a great deal to him and she will always hold a special place in his heart. During a 2016 interview, the accomplished actor spoke about his mother, and said, “She gets annoyed if she can’t walk to Mass on Sunday morning, and I just think, ‘Mum, you’re 90. It’s OK! God will forgive you.’”

Neeson has also used his work to help cope with his personal feelings and starred in a movie with Micheál called “Made in Italy,” which centers on a widower and his estranged son who reunite at a villa in Tuscany, left by the woman who was Neeson’s wife and Micheál’s mother. Neeson described filming the movie as “cathartic in a way – the way in which art sometimes can be.”

Did you know that Liam Neeson was unable to physically attend his mother’s funeral? How have you carried on memories of your loved ones? Let us know, and feel free to pass this along to your friends and family, too.