Obituaries 02-10-2010

Widespread regret was caused across Meath and Cavan and further afield following the recent passing of Mr James (Alo) McGuire, Avondale, Kildalkey Road, Trim, at the age of 81. Mr McGuire was born in Cavan town in February 1929. He grew up and went to school there along with his five sisters, Carmel, Greta, Leona, Madeline, Anita, and brother, Paddy. In 1958, like many of his fellow countrymen at that time, he made his way to England seeking employment. Deceased settled in Manchester and for many years worked as a bus driver conveying people all around the city. One of his favourite routes being the 'Football Special' to Old Trafford each Saturday that Manchester United played at home there. He loved to tell to the story often of how he would meet the stars of that great era - Best, Law, Charlton and especially, Paddy Crerand. In 1976, he decided to return to Ireland and set up his own business, Trim Tarmacadam, which he ran very successfully until he retired in 1996. The glowing praise and compliments from many of his customers at his funeral wake were a testimony to the care and pride he took in every job he took on and completed. Mr McGuire had many passions and pastimes/hobbies, principally a love of jazz music, cars and his beloved Cavan GAA team which he supported enthusiastically throughout the 40s, 50s, and 60s, and up until the present day. He was a great friend of the famous Tony Tighe and Mick Higgins, of that famous Polo Grounds Cavan team of 1947. It was said in some GAA circles at the time, that had it no been for his greater love of English and American jazz bands and his attendance at various concert venues throughout the north east, he might well have been on the senior county panel that made that famous journey to New York. Deceased was dedicated to his family, his late wife Bridie; daughters, Marion, Anne, and Zita; and grandchildren, Claire, Emma, Sharon, Brian, Séan, and Niamh, whom he loved and cared for dearly. Predeceased by Mrs McGuire in 2006, he is survived by his daughters, Marion Kinsella, Avondale, Trim; Ann Finnegan, Co Louth; Zita O'Brien, Galway; sons-in-law, Tom Kinsella, Bernard Finnegan and Pat O'Brien, and his grandchildren, relatives and friends. The funeral took place from St Patrick's Church to St Loman's Cemetery on 1st September last. A month's memory Mass takes place in Trim Church on Saturday 2nd October at 7pm. ____________________________________________________________ Ken Monaghan, Celbridge The death has occurred of Mr Ken Monaghan, director of the James Joyce Centre in Dublin and husband of Lucy Smith of Dunsany. Mr Monaghan passed away peacefully on Monday of last week. Mr Monaghan was James Joyce's nephew, and joined the board of directors of the James Joyce Centre in 1987 after retiring from the world of banking and business. It was through the hard work of Mr Monaghan, his family and others that the eighteenth-century townhouse on North Great George's Street, in which the centre is housed was restored and eventually opened to the public in 1994. During this period, he devised popular Joycean walking tours of the north inner city, an occasion not to be missed by visiting Joyceans and a tradition which continues to this day. Mr Monaghan was also the author of Joyce's Dublin Family, and he delivered talks at symposia, seminars and Bloomsday events both in Ireland and around the world. In a statement, the centre said that Mr Monaghan worked tirelessly to make the life and work of James Joyce accessible to the ordinary reader. "His commitment and passion were central to the founding of the James Joyce Centre, and his dedication to promoting Joyce to as wide an audience as possible continues to inspire us." Mr Monaghan, born in 1925, was the son of Joyce's sister May. In a 2001 essay that appeared in the Joyce Studies Annual, he recalled the Dublin of his youth, a city not unlike the one his uncle has fled. "My mother," he wrote, "was proud of her eldest brother and had copies of Dubliners and Portrait which she read, but at the same time she was conscious of his reputation in Ireland and would say to my two sisters and myself that while we should never deny that we were related to Joyce, we did not have to advertise the fact either." Formerly of Oughterard, Co Galway and Terenure, Dublin, Mr Monaghan was predeceased by his first wife Joan; daughter Maeve and grandson Ali; and is survived by his wife Lucy; family, Katherine, Niall, Siobhán, Helen, Judy and John; grandchildren, Cillian, Eva, Niall, Cian, Dylan and Courtney; father-in-law, Gerry Smith, Trim, former principal of Dunshaughlin NS, relatives and friends. The funeral took place on Thursday last from Terenure College Chapel to Donacomper Cemetery, Celbridge. ____________________________________________________________ Anne Thornton, Bohermeen Mrs Anne Thornton, Neilstown, Bohermeen, Navan, who died suddenly at her home on 5th September last, was a native of Carlow and was aged 60. She is survived by her husband, Oliver; family, Majella Hodgins, Faughan Hill; Shane Thornton, Charlestown, Co Sligo; Maura Thornton, Bohermeen and Wayne Thornton, Bohermeen; son-in-law, Robert Hodgins; daughter-in-law, Annette Thornton; grandchildren, Adam and Ross Hodgins and Lucas and Isobelle Thornton; brothers, Dessie and Tony Whitty, Carlow. The funeral took place from St Ultan's Church, Bohermeen, to the adjoining cemetery. A month's mind takes place there on Sunday 3rd October at 11.30am.