![\"Bryan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0_NO-FEE-713-Alzheimer-30th-annual-Tea-Day.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBryan went into full-time care last year, and while it was a heartbreaking decision for his partner Una to make, she says he has more order and less chaos in his life now<\/p>\n
Bryan Murray and Una Crawford O\u2019Brien pictured at the launch of the 30th anniversary of Alzheimer\u2019s Tea Day(Image: Sasko Lazarov \/ Photocall Ireland)<\/p>\n
Una Crawford O\u2019Brien says partner Bryan Murray is more content and less frustrated since going into full-time care<\/a>.<\/p>\n The popular actor, famed for playing Bob Charles in Fair City, went public with his Alzheimer\u2019s diagnosis in 2022.<\/p>\n Bryan\u2019s condition has since deteriorated over the past few years, prompting Una, also a Fair City<\/a> star, to put him into full-time care.<\/p>\n While it was a difficult decision for Una to make<\/a>, she knows it was the right one and, these days, Bryan is doing well.<\/p>\n Una told RSVP Magazine: \u201cBryan is in great form at the moment, smiling and chatting away.<\/p>\n \u201cHe doesn\u2019t make a lot of sense, but he\u2019s in great form and that\u2019s so important.<\/p>\n \u201cI was with him on his birthday and we went out for a picnic. He also knew me that day.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I gave him his card, he read, \u2018Love from Una\u2019 and said, \u2018That\u2019s you\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cHe had a very good day that day, because most days he doesn\u2019t know me.\u201d<\/p>\n Una Crawford O’Brien and Bryan Murray at the Lauralynn Hero’s Ball at the Clayton Hotel,Burlington Road, Dublin(Image: Pic Brian McEvoy)<\/p>\n Bryan sometimes felt frustrated and asked a lot of questions when living at home with Alzheimer\u2019s, but Una says there is less chaos in his life now.<\/p>\n She explained: \u201cI think what\u2019s good for Bryan is that he\u2019s not surrounded by lots of people anymore.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no chaos in his life, but there is order and I think that\u2019s been very good for him.<\/p>\n \u201cI never realised it when he lived at home and I tried to make life as normal as possible.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems that, without even knowing it, he likes the routine and he\u2019s happy.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has a lovely room which is decorated with pictures of himself in various productions on television and stage.<\/p>\n \u201cHe doesn\u2019t know himself in the pictures, but he recognises it\u2019s his room.<\/p>\n \u201cI think \u2013 no, I know \u2013 he\u2019s more content than when he was home this time last year.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was very frustrated by a lot of things.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a lot of questioning, and sometimes anger, and that\u2019s all gone now.\u201d<\/p>\n Una has had to get used to living on her own<\/a>, something she admits was \u201cabsolutely horrible\u201d at the beginning.<\/p>\n Over time, though, she has gotten used to her new normal.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the first at least four months it was awful, there is no denying it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThen ever so slowly, I just began to get used to it.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the last couple of months I\u2019m beginning to enjoy my own company, which I didn\u2019t think I would ever do.<\/p>\n \u201cI love my garden now. I never had time to do it up in the last few years because Bryan just took up every spare minute, because he was restless.<\/p>\n \u201cNow I have time to do things I want.<\/p>\n \u201cIn saying that, I have less time than I thought I would, because going to see him takes up a lot of time and I\u2019m still doing his washing and ironing.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is my choice completely, but I\u2019ve never ironed so much in my life [laughs].<\/p>\n \u201c\u2019I\u2019ve less free time than I expected living on my own but that\u2019s okay too, because I have more time to do the important things.\u201d<\/p>\n Alzheimer\u2019s Ambassadors, TV producer and presenter Jon Slattery with Tina Gates, Councillor Emma Blain, MEP Nina Carberry, Podcaster Louise McSharry, Beauty entrepreneur Pamela Laird, Content creator Danielle Websdale and Actress Una Crawford O\u2019Brien, pictured at the launch of the 2026 Alzheimer\u2019s Memory Walk, Supported by Aviva Ireland (Aviva) held in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin. (Image: Pic. Robbie Reynolds)<\/p>\n Una says she is more conscious of her health<\/a> following Bryan\u2019s diagnosis.<\/p>\n \u201cMy ex husband, who I had a very good relationship with at the end, died last year, and I had a daughter who died, so I\u2019m very aware of what death is,\u201d she told us.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that might sound like a stupid thing to say.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has made me aware now where my sons and my granddaughter are concerned, that when I\u2019m gone, I\u2019m gone.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I\u2019m going to try to stay around for as long as I can. I try to stay healthy.<\/p>\n \u201cI walk with my dog Bob, named after Bryan\u2019s character in Fair City.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m conscious of having a good life for as long as I possibly can.\u201d<\/p>\n In Una\u2019s experience, there is plenty of awareness out there about the reality of living with or seeing a loved one have Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n However, knowing how to access it can be extremely difficult.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cThe information is there \u2013 when you finally find out where to get it.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re given the diagnosis, you\u2019re basically handed telephone numbers and leaflets and sent home, because there\u2019s very little they can do for you on the spot.<\/p>\n \u201cYou go home and think, \u2018What am I going to do, how am I going to cope, where am I going to turn?\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there needs to be more help in that area, where you can be given not just phone numbers, but people can sit you down and say, \u2018This is what we can do to help you, where you can go, what they can do for you.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cHave a point of contact; someone who can talk you through everything.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that is very necessary to have in place, and we don\u2019t have that at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n The Alzheimer Society of Ireland is urging people across the country to show their support for Memory Walk and register now to make and share memories on Sunday, 20th September at a location near them. To find out more and to register, please visit www.memorywalk.ie<\/a><\/p>\n Read the full interview with Una in the September issue of RSVP Magazine, on shelves nationwide now.<\/p>\n RSVP Magazine September 2026<\/p>\n If you’re a Fair City fan, join our exclusive Facebook group<\/a> to get the latest spoilers, interviews and pictures – Here<\/a><\/p>\n Want to see more of the stories you love from RSVP<\/a> ? To add RSVP as a preferred source of news on Google, simply click here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bryan went into full-time care last year, and while it was a heartbreaking decision for his partner Una…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":616862,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,69545,61,60,3268,34957],"class_list":["post-616861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-fair-city","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-love","tag-soaps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616861","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=616861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Una](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0_Lauralynn-Heros-Ball-49.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Alzheimer\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0_2026-Alzheimers-Memory-Walk-Launch-12.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"RSVP](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0_MRS011STRSA001-2.jpg\")
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