Famed Hollywood actress Maureen O'Hara was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday.
O'Hara, who starred in films like The Quiet Man, Miracle on 34th Street, and How Green Was My Valley, passed away at the age of 95 on Oct. 24. Due to her many starring roles, often next to Hollywood icon John Wayne, and her Irish heritage O'Hara has been called "Ireland's leading lady."
Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 14,000 veterans and dates back to the Civil War. O'Hara was buried at Arlington in a plot next to her husband, Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles F. Blair, Jr. Her husband's service allowed her to be buried at the military cemetery. Her casket was even carried by an Air Force honor guard.
O'Hara's grandson, Conor Fitzsimons, described her special affinity for her homeland. "The one thing that I think my grandmother was proud of most was being Irish because that meant to her something that nobody could take from her," Fitzsimons told Irish Central. "It was in her heart. It was in her soul. It was in her spirit. Ireland was her heart."
Melinda Munoz, John Wayne's daughter, attended the funeral and described O'Hara as somebody she looked up to. "[She was] a wonderful, wonderful woman, besides being a fabulous actress," Munoz told the publication. "She was real."
As attendees mourned O'Hara's passing, singer Catherine O’Connell sang "The Isle of Innisfree," the main song from The Quiet Man.
Actress Maureen O’Hara was laid to rest today with her husband, U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles F. Blair Jr. pic.twitter.com/geLVXwB97Y
— Arlington Cemetery (@ArlingtonNatl) November 9, 2015