Fricker won the Oscar for best supporting actress in 1990 for her performance in My Left Foot.

The funeral of the Oscar-winning Irish actress Brenda Fricker is taking place in Dublin on Thursday, following her death last month. Fricker won the Oscar for best supporting actress in 1990 for playing Daniel Day-Lewis's on-screen mother in My Left Foot. She was the first Irish woman to win an Academy Award, beating Hollywood stars including Julia Roberts and Anjelica Huston. The 81-year-old was also well known for playing nurse Megan Roach in the BBC's Casualty from 1986, making her final appearance in 2010; and was the Central Park pigeon lady in 1992's Home Alone sequel. Among the mourners attending the ceremony is the Irish actor Brendan Gleeson, who starred along side Fricker in the 1990 film The Field. Musician Frankie Gavin and TV presenter Ray D'Arcy are also among the congregation. Born in Dublin, Fricker began her acting career with parts in TV and the theatre, including Ireland's first soap opera Tolka Row in the 1960s, and ITV soap Coronation Street in 1977. She was in the cast of the first episode of long-running BBC medical drama Casualty in 1986, remaining a fixture until 1990 and returning regularly in the subsequent years.