Overview
- His wife, Patricia “Chickie” O’Neill, died on June 1 at St Francis Hospice in Dublin after tumours were found during a routine procedure in Spain and she was told in January that the disease was stage four.
- O’Neill's 86-year-old sister Patricia died only weeks earlier after suffering a stroke in hospital, creating two close losses in quick succession for the family.
- The actor has described feeling devastated and lonely, saying he spends his days surrounded by photographs and holding on to a hospice picnic memory from days before his wife died.
- Patricia had planned parts of her own funeral, requesting cremation at Dardistown Crematorium and a wake with drinks and karaoke, and she is survived by her children, step-children, her mother and seven grandchildren.
- O’Neill, who plays Grandad Harold Brown on Mrs Brown’s Boys and recovered from throat cancer in 2020, has received support from cast members and is expected to step back from work while his family grieves.