Obituaries 19-05-2012

Seamus Kennedy, Boardsmill and Kilcloon When Seamus Kennedy won Irish cycling's greatest prize, the Rás Tailteann, in 1978, he declared that he had achieved his life's ambition, and that he was going to retire. "I'm finished now. I will retire at the end of the season. I have won everything I can," he is quoted as saying in July 1978. But that was never going to happen. Kennedy's passion for cycling was such that he would never retire from the saddle. Fr Stan Deegan, PP, Kilcloon, celebrating his funeral Mass last week, said that Seamus Kennedy had never envisaged finishing early, withdrawing from the action. But he had lived a full and complete life, Fr Deegan continued. Kennedy passed away on Monday of last week, following illness. He was aged 65. And a perusal of the Meath Chronicle archives shows that, for decades, the Boardsmill native did win everything it was possible to, with his name prominent for forty years, from the 1960s, up to veteran categories in the early 2000s. His introduction to cycling was through the short-lived Ballivor club set up by enthusiast, Jack Bird, in the early 1960s. The club had a circuit which passed by the Kennedy homeplace at Fearmore, in Boardsmill, where the young Seamus, then active in the local GAA club, decided he was going to get involved with bikes. Kennedy later paid tribute to Jack Bird's role in his cycling career. He won a league for beginners in Ballivor in 1964, before moving to Navan Road Club the following year, where he stood out as one of the more impressive novices. Gene Mangan, a fellow Rás winner and work colleague of Kennedy's, recalls first meeting him as a 16 year-old at Mick Christle's training camp in Carlow in 1965, and says Kennedy had a chirpy enthusiasm and was all muscle, and who could run well too - unusual for a cyclist. He was a perfectionist and was fascinated by the bicycle as an object, Mangan says. Over the next few years, he started collecting prizes - in 1968, the All Ireland 1,000 metres sprint final at Ceannt Stadium; the Belfast-Dublin Classic and All Ireland 100 miles mass start, and the following year, the 25 miles time trial championship and the 75 miles Rás Ceatharlac. Writing in the Chronicle in January 1969, the correspondent, 'Courer' said that if Meath gave annual awards to sports stars, there would be little point in looking further than Seamus Kennedy, whose performances throughout the season placed him well above most of his compatriots in any merit ratings. Listing out his achievements for 1968, which included Meath and All Ireland titles, both road and track, the writer says he was the first Irishman (seventh) in the overall placings in the Rás Tailteann, only yielding defeat to the dominant Czechs. The Rás Tailteann had been founded by Joe Christle in 1953, and Kennedy first took part in 1965. At the time, Meath, Kerry and Dublin were providing most of the prominent and successful riders of the era, when the event captured the imagination of the country as an Irish Tour de France. By the time of his eventual win in 1978, Kennedy had set a record of sorts - since his first outing in '65, he had lost the Yellow Jersey more times than anyone else. He had worn it for a total of 13 days and won eight stages, but had lost it four times without winning. He was regarded as a wonderful cyclist, with a very professional attitude and a meticulous approach to his preparation, diet, and any aspect of his life that impinged on cycling. While not an exceptional climber, he was fast, focused, aggressive and ruthless in the sprints. According to Tom Daly's history of the Rás, he was a classic single-day racer, a feared rider who never gave an inch, always generating breaks, staying away and winning the sprint. Such tendencies didn't always help in a team-led Rás Tailteann which needed a multi-day strategy, and at times led to acrimonious finishes to stages. Kennedy was unlucky, and very disappointed, to lose out on winning the 1975 Rás. He had a puncture on the second last stage, riding for the Ireland team. He had snatched the lead at the end of the opening Dublin to Monaghan stage, and held the advantage until the blow-out at Ballymore-Eustace. He finished up third overall to Paddy Flanagan and German rider Zebisch, only beaten by 43 seconds overall that year. In 1978, Kennedy was riding for his father's native Kerry, in a team sponsored by Allied Irish Finance, where he worked. The race was won on the Letterkenny to Warrenpoint third last stage. With a tail wind aiding the riders, the 101 miles was covered in a very fast three hours, 37 minutes and at the finishing line, Kennedy outsprinted Christy Reynolds of the Meath PJ White team. In his history of Navan Road Club, Noel Coogan writes: "That gave Seamus the yellow jersey and he held the coveted garment on the Saturday spin through some tough roads in Louth and Meath on the way to Balbriggan. The final stage went through Skerries, Swords, Ratoath and Clonee en route to 15 laps around a short circuit in the Phoenix Park." Gene Mangan recalls that it was a very decisive Rás, and that Kennedy tactically rode it very well. He became the fourth Meath man, after Ben McKenna, Brian Connaughton and Colm Nulty, to win the race, and was to be followed by Philip Cassidy's first win five years later. His brothers, Michael and Timmy, rode in the Rás that year, on the Meath Sheerin team. That victory also drew down the curtain on part of the National Cycling Association's chequered history. Kennedy was the last NCA man to win the Rás under the old regime. The Irish Cycling Tripartite Committee had brought together the three different factions in Irish cycling, the NCA, the Northern Ireland Cycling Federation, and the ICF. Kennedy went on to win a major race in the Naul, which included teams from England, and was the first major event after 'Unity' of the factions, and was a significant race to win. He rode the Rás 18 times, every year from 1965 to '81, and in 1983 for the last time. On three occasions, in 1969, '72 and '75, he won the first stage of the race, and shared in six team victories. With his brother, Michael, Shay O'Hanlon, Paul Tansey and Seamus Reynolds, he rode with a Trim team sponsored by Michael Vaughan and Tirolia, and managed by Noel Clarke, He won the 100 miles road championship four times, and national sprint and points titles were among his many successes. Stage race successes included the Rás Uladh, Rás Mumham and Rás Connacht. With other Meath riders, he represented Ireland in the three-day classic international race, the Grand Prix Humanite in France, and spent some time on the Belgian circuit. He won the first stage of the Tour of Tunisia in 1978, and was fourth overall, and was third overall in the tour of Israel in 1975, when he finished second to Kilmessan's Noel Clarke in a stage. Kennedy was on the 1980 Olympic panel, and expressed regret at not having taken part in an Olympics. Up to a decade ago, he was still winning races as a veteran, in the Klondyke Cup, Navan RC championship, Beechmount Cup and Cycleways Cup. In later years, he became involved with the Dunboyne club close to his Kilcloon home, and his last race was the Gerry Brannigan Memorial in Clonee last November. Philip Cassidy of the Dunboyne Club pays tribute to Kennedy, who had a major influence on his career. "Seamus, along with Brian Connaughton, was a major source of help to me," Philip says. "He brought me to many races, and when I won the National Championships in Enniskillen, we set off at 6am. And you always wanted to race that bit better when you had Seamus in the car, because you'd want to repay the efforts he was making to be there." Cassidy described his as a role model, valued adviser and a really good friend. Another close friend, Brian Connaughton, who read at the Funeral Mass, said Seamus was an incredible perfectionist who would never take part in a race unless he felt he was totally fit to ride. Members of the 1978 Kerry team placed a jersey on the coffin as it left St Oliver Plunkett's Church in Kilcloon for the adjoining cemetery on Thursday. Son of James and the late Sheila (O'Brien) Kennedy of Boardsmill, deceased married teacher Eileen Linnane from Kilcloon and settled in her native Killeaney, where they brought up their family. Seamus Kennedy initially worked with the Hire Purchase Company of Ireland, later Allied Irish Finance, with Gene Managan and Ratoath cyclist Gerry Keogh and also worked for CIE for a time. He rode with Navan Road Club for most of his career, with stints in Dublin clubs, Setanta and AIF. Eileen died in 2000, aged 50, and deceased is survived by family, Derval, Colm, Ian, Kieran and Alma; father, James, sisters, Maureen and Una, both Chicago; brothers, Mickey and Timmy, both Boardsmill, grandchildren, in-laws, nephews, nieces, relatives and many friends in the cycling fraternity. __________________________________________________________ Máire Gibbons, Lismullin Ms Máire Brighid Gibbons, who died at the age of 84 on 20th April at Lismullin House, Lismullin, Navan, was one of the first Irish women to join Opus Dei. She and her twin brother, Seán, were born in Rathfarnham and were the children of Seamus Gibbons, of Louisburg, Co Mayo, and Brighid Curran, of Aughavas, Co Leitrim. Her mother, a secondary school teacher, died when Máire was eight years of age. The family then moved to a larger house in Foxrock so as to accommodate their maternal grandmother, who took on the role of mother, and a succession of young girls from the Gaeltacht areas who were employed, not only to help with the busy household of five children, but also to teach them Irish. Deceased and her siblings grew up loving the language and she spoke it with ease throughout her life. Seamus Gibbons, who had worked in the linen industry in Belfast before the War of Independence and who subsequently became involved in promoting what were then referred to as 'cottage industries' in the Gaeltacht areas, combined a deep patriotism for the newly established Éire with an understanding of and respect for the Northern Irish Protestant tradition. This helped to form Ms Gibbons' open character and made her firm in her own convictions while respectful of the different views of others. She was a pupil of the eponymous Miss Meredith's, a school established in 1929 on Pembroke Road and which Máire remembered with great affection. Her secondary education took place in the Dominican school in Cabra. As the oldest girl, she gradually assumed many of the household responsibilities and learned to love the skills involved in creating a home for her father, her three brothers and her sister. On leaving school, she spent a year studying domestic economy in Sion Hill, before enrolling in 1948 as an arts student in UCD, then housed in Earlsfort Terrace, where she studied Irish and German. Her father, anxious that household tasks should not interfere with her studies, suggested that she live during term-time in Dominican Hall, a residence for women students on St Stephen's Green. Hers was a companionable and cheerful personality and she quickly made friends in Dominican Hall, among them Teddy (Nora) Burke from Sligo, with whom she shared long conversations about literature, Irish culture and the shape of the world in the aftermath of World War II. It was through Teddy Burke that Ms Gibbons became acquainted with Opus Dei, an organisation for Catholic lay people which had been founded some 20 years previously by the Spanish priest (later saint) Josemaría Escrivà de Balaguer. Ms Burke in turn had come across Opus Dei through her brother, Cormac, and wanted her friend to understand the reasons for her own decision to join the organisation, which was at that time little known in Ireland. That conversation in a coffee shop on St Stephen's Green in September 1949 was fondly remembered by both women throughout their lives. When, in answer to Ms Gibbons' question as to how many other Irish women were involved, Ms Burke replied simply that she was the only one, deceased famously answered without hesitation: "Well, now there are two of us". This was the defining decision of her life and one which was to bring her first to London, where she helped establish the first apostolates of Opus Dei in the United Kingdom, then to Rome and then to the United States in 1957. She was to spend eighteen years in that country and loved everything about it. She lived and worked on projects in Chicago, Washington DC and Boston, using her excellent driving skills to meet and advise other members of Opus Dei in those cities. She was also an indefatigable teacher of the craft she loved, that of homemaking. Her open disposition and unfailing good humour won her many friends in her new homeland and she remained in contact with them for the rest of her life. Returning to Ireland in 1974, she took up the post of librarian in Newman College on Merrion Square, where she became an enthusiastic resource for staff and students alike. She underwent surgery for cancer at this time and, while some of her physical energies were dimmed as a result, she lost none of her youthfulness of heart. She had taken piano lessons as a child and resumed classes in her seventies, passing several exams and playing up to two weeks before her death. She particularly loved to be with young people, who appreciated her genuine interest in their activities, her spirit of fun and her enthusiasm for trying new things, such as taking a ride in an electric car to celebrate her eightieth birthday. Her final illness was characterised by her usual good humour and punctuated by her habitual question: "And, now, what can I do for you?" Le linn a saol, bhí suim domhain aici i gcúrsaí reatha. Choinnigh sí suas le scéalta an lae agus le himeachtaí polaitiúla agus cultúrtha. Ba bheag gné de shaol na linne nach raibh suim aici inti. Thuig sí an mhaitheas agus na féidireachtaí a bhí taobh thiar de chúrsaí an lae. B'annamh nach mbeadh tuairim aici ar na scéalta a bhí i mbéal an phobail. Bhí spéis aici óna h-óige sa Ghaeilge, sa stair agus ceol dhúchasaigh. Mar sin féin bhí saibhreas iontach port aici agus an-ghlóir aici le hiad a chasadh ar an bpiano. Ms Gibbons is survived by her sister, Mealla; brother, Seámus; nieces and nephews and a wide circle of lifelong friends in Opus Dei in Ireland, England, Rome and the United States. The funeral took place from Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, Merrion Road, to Templekieran Cemetery, Lismullin. A month's memory Mass will be celebrated at the Holy Family oratory in Lismullin Conference Centre on Sunday 20th May, at 12 noon. ___________________________________________________________ John McCormack, Athboy There was widespread sadness following the passing of Mr John McCormack, Barnes Avenue, Athboy, on 22nd April 2012, aged 59. The Athboy native was a former undertaker in the town. He had also worked with his uncle, Mattie Gilligan, in the sawmills in Athboy, as a young man, and had played football with Martinstown. He is survived by his wife, Mary; sisters, Marie, Betty, Angela and Carmel; brothers, Des, Pat, Kevin and Philip; uncle Mattie Gilligan, relatives and friends. His funeral took place from St James' Church, Athboy, to St James' Cemetery. A month's memory Mass will take place on Sunday 27th May, at 11.30am, in St James' Church. ____________________________________________________________ Ann Mary Rogers, Ballivor The regretted death occurred on 28th April last of Mrs Ann Mary (Ettie) Rogers, Rathkeenan, Ballivor, at Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, aged 78. A native of Ballivor, she was daughter of the late Bernard and Rose Kelly, and was predeceased by her husband, Johnnie Rogers, in April 1996. Educated at Coolronan National School, Ballivor, deceased worked in the hospitals and cotton mills of Lancashire, England, for 22 years, before returning to Ireland in 1978. She then worked in NEC Ballivor for over 20 years. Mrs Rogers was a member of Kildalkey Active Retirement Group, was an avid reader and follower of current affairs and politics. She is survived by her daughters, Marian Ralphson, Chesire, England, and Roisin Ward, Athboy; sons-in-law, Les Ralphson and Michael Ward, sons-in-law; grandchildren, Heath Ralphson and Michéal, Sean and Colm Ward; and sisters-in-law, Mary and Breeda. The funeral took place from St Dympna's Church, Kildalkey, to the new cemetery, Ballivor.