Blissful Ballinrobe homecoming for Panti

A blissful Ballinrobe homecoming for ‘Panti’


Ciara Galvin

BALLINROBE turned all the colours of the rainbow last weekend as the community welcomed home Rory O’Neill.
Not even the inclement weather could dampen the spirits of the community and those who travelled to see the ‘Panti Comes Home’ show.  Over 450 people scrambled to soak up the laughs of O’Neill’s drag queen performance as alter ego ‘Panti Bliss’.
On a stage erected in his native Abbey Street, O’Neill made the short 100 metre walk from his home house to the stage with his father Rory Senior and mother, Fin, while brothers Lorcan and Fergal and sisters Aoibheann, Edel and Claire took their seats among friends.
Welcoming Panti home, the community took to its feet for a standing ovation before the show started. A nervous but composed Panti repeatedly thanked the community for coming out to support the show and Rory.
Rory previously told The Mayo News that although he has performed shows across the world, the homecoming show was one which he was most nervous about doing.
Among the audience was a large contingent of O’Neill’s friends from Dublin including funny woman Katherine Lynch and telly bingo star Declan Buckley, better known as Shirley Temple Bar.
Fellow Ballinrobe native Denny Moran travelled home from Hong Kong to see his friend take the stage.
Panti told the audience at the start that though the town will always be home to Rory, for a time he didn’t think there was ‘a place for me in Ballinrobe’.
“After last weekend and after this, I think I was wrong,” added Panti.
The shrieks of laughter from the young and not so young eased O’Neill into a performance which contained an effortless stream of side splitting storytelling, from attending a funeral with Madonna to the death of Rory’s pet sheep ‘Susie Suffolk’. Panti entertained the crowds for close to two hours.
Speaking about the marriage equality referendum, Panti said she was following the result in Mayo very closely. “If you had voted ‘No’ I’d never had forgiven you,” she joked.
During the questions and answers section of the show, Rory’s mother Fin surprised her son by taking the mic and thanking the people of Ballinrobe for their support and ‘to the people of Abbey Street who helped rear him’. “We’re very proud of you,” Mrs O’Neill added.
“This has meant so much to me. The 13-year-old Rory somewhere inside me is absolutely gobsmacked. This has been a mind blowing end to an incredible week,” Panti told the audience.
An emotional Panti thanked the audience who were once again on their feet as she again made her way through the crowd accompanied by the O’Neill family.
Speaking to The Mayo News after the show, Rory’s brother Lorcan, who travelled from Rome for the show, said he was ‘so happy and proud that Ireland has changed’.
After an outfit change Rory returned to the marquee where he partied the night away with friends and family.
Asked how he felt having done his most nerve-wracking show yet, O’Neill said: “I feel amazing. It was amazing.”

ON HOME GROUND Rory O’Neill, aka Panti Bliss, is flanked by his parents Rory Snr and Fin O’Neill as they make the short stroll from their home on Abbey Street in Ballinrobe to the sold out marquee where O’Neill performed a homecoming show. Pics: Michael McLaughlin