‘He was an amazing man,’ Frank says of father-in-law Brendan
Tyrrellspass native Frank Gillespie married Brendan Grace’s daughter Melanie in September 2006. Their reception at the Armada Hotel in Spanish Point in County Clare was attended by many of his friends from the Charlton years, including Jack himself, Kevin Moran and Steve Staunton. The then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern also dropped by during a tour of the county to wish the married couple well.
In ‘Confessions from the Blackthorn’, the 2004 book that Frank wrote in conjunction with journalist Paul Lennon from the Irish Star, he admits that when he and Melanie first became a couple, he was worried about what her parents, the legendary comedian Brendan Grace and his wife Eileen, would say about their age difference – he was in his early 40s and she was in her early 20s. However, it didn’t take him long to win them over.
His recent trip home was his first since Brendan died in July 2019. Frank misses him very much, he says.
“We were very close. We toured together. I did a lot of work with him. Him and Finbar (Furey – an old friend of Frank) never worked together, even though they were great friends. I was in Florida one night and said to him [Brendan]; ‘How about a tour of Australia?’.
He said that would be great and I asked should I ring Finbar to see if he will come with us. He said it would be great craic.
“We went and did a great tour. It was absolutely fabulous and we had a great time.” Frank’s sons adored their grandad and the feeling was mutual. His passing hit them hard, Frank says.
In addition to being a skilled performer, Frank’s wife Melanie also owns a successful drama school in Boston.
One of his sons has also shown signs that he could follow in his grandfather’s and mother’s footsteps.
“Melanie has a drama school with a huge number of kids and she has just created this little empire for herself. Patrick is running the show with her now, he’s 12. He has done a couple of small movies and is doing auditions, and is with a well known casting company in Boston at the moment. His life is acting, TV and making music.
“James has gone more into sport. He plays hurling. He plays football and American football.”
During his recent visit home, Frank visited the exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Brendan Grace in the Museum of Style Icons at the Newbridge Silverware Visitor Centre in Kildare.
He brought a couple of musicians with him, including Eddie Furey and Sean Keane, to pay tribute to his great friend and father-in-law, who was a regular visitor to Westmeath to catch up with Frank’s family.
“It is a bit tear-jerking to go in there and see all his stuff. He was an amazing man.”