Tribute paid to Sean Deegan - an ‘adventurous and sometimes fiery spirit’

The wider Deegan family, their Molumby cousins, neighbours and friends, along with members of his ill wife Helena’s family, bade farewell to Seán Deegan at his requiem Mass in the Cathedral of the Assumption, Thurles, celebrated by Father Joe Walsh, on Wednesday, August 2, 2023.

Seán’s remains were wheeled out of the Cathedral to the strains of You’ll Never Walk Alone, the anthem of Liverpool FC, Seán’s team, sung by his cousin, Michael Molumby, accompanied on the organ by Mary Rose McNally, musical director of Thurles Musical Society.

Burial took place immediately afterwards in St. Patrick’s Cemetery.

Seán passed away peacefully, in his 87th year, in the tender care of Drumderrig Nursing Home, Boyle, County Roscommon.

Seán was the eldest son of Jack and Margaret Deegan, both of Thurles, and elder brother of Tomás and Pádraig, and was the last surviving member of his family. In the mid-1930s,Seán’s parents set up home in Dublin, where their sons were born and where their father taught in Whitefriar Street National School.

In 1945, the family to Twomileborris, on Jack becoming master of the local school. Sadly, Jack died within 18 months, Margaret and heryoung family moving to Davitt Terrace in Thurles, the boys receiving their primary andsecondary education at the local CBS.

On completing his Leaving Certificate, Seán began his working life in Dún Laoghaire library, during which sojourn his love of sport led to refereeing junior soccer matches and wielding the camán in Phoenix Park.

At his funeral, Thurles contemporaries recalled Seán’s prowess as a teenager both on the tennis court and soccer field.

Playing a sport that would have been then regarded, in the self-proclaimed home of hurling, as a banned sport, showed a rebellious spirit, which contrasted with the conservatism that he showed in some other aspects of his life.

Although Seán was and remained an avid reader, the hush of a library setting may not have sat comfortably with his adventurous and sometimes fiery spirit, so he stopped stamping book-return dates and moved to the more adrenaline-inducing, if more perilous role, of a commercial traveller, in his case, with Dollard Press, clocking up the miles in his Volkswagen Beetle.

While based in Dublin, in those early years, probably under the prompting of his uncle-in-law, GAA columnist John D.Hickey, Seán dabbled in freelance sports journalism, a happy four-way marriage for his love of sport, his imagination, his passion and his easy flowof words.

Seán had family connections, on his mother’s side, in Liverpool, perhaps partly explaining why he took the B & I ferry from Dublin’s North Wall to Liverpool, the train to Euston Station, and to clerical work in the cargo department of BEA, at Heathrow Airport.

While ready spectator-access to top level soccer games made England a happy home for Seán, thepull of Dark Rosaleen proved to be stronger. He brought his BEA-acquired skills home to the freight-forwarding industry in Dublin, in which field, a work colleague, Helena Buckley, in 1971, accepted the offer of his hand.

The couple lived for a spell in Thurles and in various locations around Dublin, before buying an apartment on Dublin’s quays, opposite the Four Courts, later settling down in Rochfortbridge, County Westmeath.

In the sporting frame, in his middle years, Seán was Secretary of Thurles Town FC during its few years as a League of Ireland club and represented it on the councils of the League of Ireland and the Football Association of Ireland, while later assisting Shelbourne FC in a fund-raising campaign. During the decade spent in Thurles, Seán was well-known and kept busy as a hackney driver in Thurles, his white Peugeot 504 a familiar sight in the town and on the roads of the county.

Life could be described as an ongoing search towards finding fulfilment, for the fullest expression of oneself and Seán found this through some spark of inspiration that led him to study law and to qualify as a barrister in his mid-forties.

In this successful endeavour, his wife Helena played a pivotal role by stretching herself in keeping the couple’s finances in the black, during Seán’s four years of study.

A colourful character and combative debater, even in social conversations.

Seán had found, in the legal profession, the ultimate career outlet for who he was. Seán had a veritable library of books and CDs, reflecting the depth and curiosity of his intellect - the display of which he sometimes accompanied with a mischievous smile - and his great love of music, especially of the classical genre; he travelled far and wide to play Bridge; he immersed himself nostalgically in sport by chronicling his memories of past golden sporting moments, while also keeping up to date, especially about his beloved Liverpool FC and golf, which was the last sport he played in his elder years; he was an avid follower of current affairs and politics, keeping a watchful eye on the forces advocating Constitutional change.

The staunch companionship and support of Helena, Seán’s wife of 52 years, enhanced the times when he floated on tail winds and consoled and challenged him when the wind blew in the opposite direction.

Though they’re now on opposite sides of the great divide, one can visualise them strolling together along the tracks of Inishbofin, an island very dear to them, basking in its celestial beauty.