Tributes paid as sad passing plunges Tipperary community into mourning

Shinrone, Dunkerrin and surrounding areas of Offaly and Tipperary were plunged into mourning in mid-December with the passing of Mairéad Feighery (nee Flannery), Dunkerrin, Birr and formerly of Cangort Park, Shinrone.

Mairéad passed away peacefully, surrounded by her loving family, at the Midland Regional Hospital, Tullamore, on Sunday,, December 17 last.

A deeply respected and loved member of the community, she had given a lifetime of dedication to the Health Service Executive and the National Health Service in Britain.

Pre-deceased by her parents Peter and Eileen Flannery and her beloved twin brother, Andrew, Mairéad is sadly missed by her loving husband James, (Jim), her son Warren, his fiancée Thérese, her beloved grandchildren Chloe, Ella, Ruby and Heidi, her brothers Joe, Michael and Seán, her sisters Anne (Ormond), Frances (Carroll), Mary (Flannery) and Theresa (Cleary), sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews, relatives, neighbours, friends and work colleagues, to whom the deepest sympathy is extended.

In a moving eulogy at her Funeral Mass on Tuesday, December 19, in St Mary's Church, Shinrone, her niece, Stephanie Ormond paid tribute to Mairéad, or Máudi, as she was affectionately known.

In the eulogy Stephanie said: “I spent four hours with Máudi last Thursday night. It was a privilege. It is fair to say that we had quite the conversation. Truthfully, one of the sharpest conversations I have ever had and she knew exactly what she wanted to say. She left very clear instructions, stopping every now and again to double-check that I understood them correctly and then told me that I should be writing them down. And so, I duly did and then she told me to double check them and cross-check them with Warren. We discussed world events, national and local politics, the next local and general elections – she informed me that Peter - her nephew, Cllr Peter Ormond - would be down another vote and should make sure he was adding people to the register at the way things were going. She talked about UK politics, and of course, her beloved family. You won't be surprised to hear that all of the above were delivered style, panache and just a little bit of drama. 

“Mairéad was a woman with many interesting layers to her character. She was interested in people, she loved to visit, chat and have a cup of tea. We didn’t really have to go and visit her much because we always met her in all the other houses. And that tea had to be in a proper china teacup with a proper saucer, because that is why they are called teacups, she said. She had a deep knowledge of politics and history and her heritage was very important to her. She loved being a part of the heritage and active retirement groups and played an active role in them. She enjoyed going to the coffee mornings on Thursdays and her aqua aerobics in Birr on Fridays.

“Mairéad worked in Ely House for many years and she was shop stewart there – this was something that she didn’t stop doing, even last Thursday, telling the nurse on the coronary care ward about his entitlements and making sure that he went and asked for them, ‘because they won’t just give them to you, you know’. She called in to our house in the mornings on her way home from night shifts and always had the cup of tea and the chat. She made great friends in Ely House and always stayed connected to them. Nancy, her friend, spent time with her last week during her final hours. She never missed a count after an election. She loved her style and always wore beautiful earnings and she had her hair done religiously every Saturday morning at 10.30.  

“Mairéad had a deep connection to the UK and to London in particular, where she lived and worked from 1967- 1974. She was partial to a little bit of royalty and never missed the BBC daily news. She was proud of the fact that she received a thank you letter from Windsor Castle, no less, when she sent the Queen a card for her platinum jubilee celebrations. She was of course also very proud of her republican heritage. And she was, of course, an Arsenal fan.  She was a voracious reader and we often swapped books and she loved the Irish Independent, this was studied in great detail every single day. She loved to travel and she didn’t bat an eyelid at taking off on her own. She said to me one day,’ I am going to Australia’. I asked who she was going with and she said ‘I am going on my own, there is a group going, I will make friends over there’ and off she went, and of course, whilst there, she went to the Melbourne Cup, as one does. More recently she travelled to Portugal for a family wedding and stayed on with Anne, Breda and Ava to visit Fatima.  

“Like I said, Mairéad loved to talk to people. She had the names, salaries and the life stories of the wonderful staff in the coronary care unit by Thursday afternoon and was able to tell them all. They, of course, were intrigued by her ability to recall facts. One of them commented, isn’t she a very interesting and entertaining lady. I think we can all agree that she was that. 'I have great friends’, she said, ‘they never let me down. But mind you, I never let them down either’.  

“Mairéad adored her husband Jim and her son Warren and his lovely family - Therese, Chloe, Ella, Ruby and Heidi. They were and always will be the light of her life, both on earth and in eternity. She valued her own family and more often than not when you go to Cangort Park, she would be sitting at the top of the table – never at the side mind you – but she would be holding court with her teacup. She will, no doubt, be keeping a watchful eye on us all. She actually told me that she would be doing this.  

“Mairéad had a deep faith and she prayed to Our Lady and said the rosary. I asked her the other evening if she would like to say a decade of the rosary. ‘No, she said, I was told I'm to stop talking.’ Five minutes later, she said ‘We’ll just say one decade and we’ll do an extra bit for Andrew’. In fact, when my mother asked her about saying a rosary, she said that ‘I have three said already today Anne’.  

 “Warren your mother was so proud of you Therese and your gorgeous family. Jim told me that he found your baby photographs inside her pillowcase. She was proud of Therese and your beautiful family. She was proud of Jim, very much so when he received the Offaly Unsung Hero of Offaly award, even though he is a Tipp man, this I assure you is a work in progress. The girls are and always will, continue to be the apple of her eye. She was proud of the 52 years of happy marriage she had with Jim and I know that she cherished these years dearly.

“To her siblings, I say this. You have an amazing nurturing family, carry and treasure the memories of family times with Mairéad, she was not afraid to speak her mind or to challenge you - either individually or collectively but she loved you all very much.  I know that she looked forward to meeting her parents Eileen & Peter & her dear twin Andrew and she told me, on Thursday evening that she was ready to go, but that she was going out on her own terms. I think that sums up Mairéad - she was fiercely independent, a straight talker and she just did not put up with any nonsense.  Mairead lived a good life and how lucky we are to have been a part of her family and her life. Rest Easy Mairéad - ní bheidh a leithéad ann arís.”