EDITORIAL: Sad passing of James Walsh in Mayo and the Tipperary connection

In Ireland it has been said we do death very well.

People generally get proper and appropriate send offs and they’re remembered fondly and a drink or cup of tea is had, a neighbour’s sandwich eaten and a kind word uttered about the person on the way to their final resting place.

It’s how it has always been done, although Covid-19 did its best to bury that tradition, nevertheless, it still lives on.

With this country’s attitude towards death in mind, there’s an intriguing and heart-breaking story on page three of this week’s Nationalist about an appeal for relatives of a man who passed away in tragic circumstances in Mayo.

The story is so sad and no person should have to be laid to rest in such a way.

We heard of the man’s death by way of a letter to this paper’s office on Queen Street in Clonmel and Eamonn Wynne pursued the story from there in a delicate and professional manner.

Eamonn writes that the body of James Walsh of Lenasillagh, Glenisland, Castlebar was discovered at the side of the road near the town on February 12, 2021.

Gardaí have admitted that they’ve “hit a brick wall” trying to trace the family of the 73-year-old but have issued an appeal for the man in this publication as Mr Walsh lived in Clonmel for a time as a teenager.

It was decided to publish this story in The Nationalist as part of the efforts to locate relatives of this poor soul.

It is a very sad story, everybody comes from somewhere, as gardaí said, and it would be nice to contact even a distant relative to mark the man’s death or have him remembered in some way by someone related to him.

Mr Walsh had been a student at St Joseph’s Industrial School in Ferryhouse, Clonmel from the age of 10 to 16, but gardaí couldn’t uncover any other relevant information about him.

Can you help them with their investigation?

If so, email news@nationalist.ie and we will forward your correspondence to them.