READERS OF A CERTAIN age will recall, with great fondness, Jimmy O’Dea, a Dublin actor and comedian who died in 1965. He was especially popular for his roles in revue and pantomime at the Olympia and Gaiety theatres during the mid-20th century and was best-known for creating the character “Biddy Mulligan, the Pride of the Coombe”. Following his death, the then Taoiseach Seán Lemass described him as a man of “quite exceptional talents” who had “brought joy and laughter to thousands of people”.

A portrait titled Jimmy O’Dea In Costume by Seán Keating is among the Irish paintings in the British and Irish Art Sale at Bonhams in London next Wednesday. Keating depicted O’Dea in a cavalier costume in the style of 17th Century Dutch painter Frans Hals. The estimate is £10,000-£15,000 (€12,460-€18,700).

Other Irish works in the auction include A View Of Croagh Patrick From Achill Island by Paul Henry, estimate £10,000 – £15,000 (€12,460-€18,700) and The Moon Over the Bog by Gerard Dillon, estimate £50,000-£70,000 (€62,000-€87,235).