"The Quiet Man’s" Maureen O’Hara film festival is abruptly cancelled

It the sort of development that would have set Maureen O'Hara's flame haired Quiet Man heroine on a tirade, but nonetheless the Irish film festival which honors the screen icon has been called off at the eleventh hour.

The second Maureen O’Hara Classic Film Festival in West Cork is not going ahead, the organizers announced abruptly, due to unnamed circumstances they claimed were beyond their control. 

According to the Irish Examiner the festival had been due to run from June 24 to 29 in Glengarriff, the picturesque town where the screen legend has lived for several years.  

Sadly confirmation of the cancellation came via the festival’s Facebook page yesterday.  'We are sorry to have to announce that due to circumstances beyond our control, the Maureen O’Hara Classic Film Festival has been cancelled for this June 2012,' a short statement read.

Members of the festival’s organizing committee could not be reached for comment, nor could Frank McCarthy, who is the head of the Maureen O’Hara Foundation.  

Last year’s inaugural festival ran for 10-days and attracted Hollywood royalty to the proceedings and this year’s event was scheduled to feature an appearances by The Quiet Man star herself, who turns 92 in August.  

The Maureen O’Hara Foundation was set up to run the festival and tasked to facilitate an even more ambitious project, the creation of a $10.8 million dollar legacy centre, film academy and arena in Glengarriff, County Cork.  

The proposed center was originally envisioned to house the film star’s collection of memorabilia, and train students in all aspects of film-making - although with the cancellation of the festival its future has now been called into doubt.

Recent allegations that O’Hara had been a victim of elder abuse by a carer was strongly denied by authorities who investigated it but the allegation pitted members of O’Hara’ family against her staff and led to much bad blood