Tributes have been paid to Cork broadcaster, actor, and teacher Elmarie Mawe, who has passed away.<\/p>\n
For more than a quarter of a century, Ms Mawe was host of The Arts House on Cork\u2019s 96FM and C103, where she earned a reputation as the voice of the arts in Cork.<\/p>\n
Ms Mawe\u2019s own love of the arts began early, first appearing on the stage in City Hall at the age of five during the C\u00f3r Fh\u00e9ile competition.<\/p>\n
She would host several major civic and cultural events and concerts on that same stage, including the Lord Mayor\u2019s Christmas Gala.<\/p>\n
Ms Mawe had a passion for teaching, working in Gurrane NS, having previously taught violin in the Limerick School of Music, and speech and drama in the Cork School of Music.<\/p>\n
It was in The Everyman bar, after a 1997 production of The Stepping Stone in which Ms Mawe starred, that she was first introduced to her future husband Conor Tallon, who would become her rock.<\/p>\n
In 2020, they shared a Cork Person of the Month award for their services to the arts.<\/p>\n
In 2023, Ms Mawe was honoured with a Lord Mayor\u2019s Civic Award and Cultural Award for her contribution to the arts.<\/p>\n
She had been living with cancer for several years.<\/p>\n
The Lord Mayor of Cork, councillor Damian Boylan, said Ms Mawe had been \u201ca brilliant broadcaster and teacher, and a passionate and much-loved champion of the arts\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWeek after week, she brought audiences closer to the worlds of theatre, literature, music, visual arts and community creativity, providing a platform for everyone from household names to emerging artists, to schoolchildren and the often marginalised,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer warmth, curiosity and deep appreciation of the arts shone through every interview and conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe worked very hard during the covid pandemic to ensure that the arts remained an essential part of public life.<\/p>\n
And despite her own illness, her enthusiasm was infectious and her commitment to supporting the arts never wavered.\u201d Broadcaster PJ Coogan said the loss being felt by Ms Mawe\u2019s radio family was immense.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I had to describe Elmarie in one word, that word would be \u2018gorgeous\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was a most delightful colleague and a dear friend to have. Although we knew this day was coming, it has still hit us like a bolt from the blue. We\u2019re devastated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eibhl\u00edn Gleeson, CEO of Cork Opera House, described Ms Mawe as \u201cthe true matriarch of the Cork arts scene\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a treasured collaborator, it has been an enormous privilege to welcome Elmarie to our stage regularly to comp\u00e8re for us – most recently hosting our major 170th Gala performance in March 2025,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn such a special occasion for Cork Opera House, she was the perfect host, she honoured our history and steered the occasion with her signature humour and warmth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a statement, The Everyman said Ms Mawe had been a passionate advocate for the arts and for Cork city, a consummate professional, and a welcoming host and interviewer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re honoured to say that Elmarie had a long history with The Everyman: she graced our stage on many occasions, both as an actor and narrator of concerts.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Patrick Talbot, former CEO of The Everyman, said The Arts House had achieved legendary status as \u201can essential first port of call for all cultural events and, thanks to Elmarie’s hugely informed and warm style has a huge listenership\u201d.<\/p>\n
Tony Sheehan, artistic director of the Triskel Arts Centre, said there was \u201ca little bit less sunshine in the world today\u201d after Ms Mawe\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was a true champion of the arts, a genuinely lovely person and everyone at Triskel is deeply saddened,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe express our sincere condolences to Conor, her family, friends and all those who loved her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Poet Theo Dorgan said Ms Mawe had been a tireless advocate for the arts and a lovely person.<\/p>\n
\u201cElmarie was such a professional \u2013 she always took the time to be well-informed, whatever she was discussing, and that\u2019s a great thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe inspired a lot of people with her courage and her refusal to stop smiling.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Singer and songwriter Jack O\u2019Rourke remembered \u201ca genuine person who did so much to support the arts\u201d and \u201cabsolutely loved\u201d music.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy heart goes out to her husband Conor \u2013 they were such a duo,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever I think of Elmarie, she was always smiling, she was never downcast and she always took every last drop of magic from the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd when she talked about the children she taught, she never lost that joyous ability to see the world through the eyes of a child, and she brought that joy to everything she did.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tributes have been paid to Cork broadcaster, actor, and teacher Elmarie Mawe, who has passed away. For more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611465,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[79,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-611464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-cork-news","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}