A tribute to the late Peggy Roche, Bohervaroon, Thurles

The town of Thurles will never be quite the same again for all those who knew and loved Peggy Roche.

She left this world on Palm Sunday morning, April 5. Peggy spent her final days in the care of the staff of University Hospital Limerick far from her loving family and her many loyal friends in Thurles and further afield. News of Peggy’s passing was greeted by great sadness among her friends and family around Thurles and family and friends near and far.

Peggy was born to Willie and Josie Kenny, on a farm, called Grove, near Fethard. She was given the name Margaret but she was known as Peggy all through her life, except during the five years she spent in Derby in England. She was the fifth youngest of 11 children.

Her childhood growing up in Grove was a happy one. She often spoke of the community spirit where neighbours could rely on each other for support and assistance. She loved the camaraderie of being part of a large family. She carried the values of her community and family with her right through her life and passed them on to her children.

When Peggy began her hairdressing career with Mae Kelly in Fethard she was still a teenager. However the delights and charms of the town of Fethard could not hold on to Peggy. She was just about twenty when she left Ireland and moved to Derby in England where she worked in hairdressing and continued to develop her expertise and skills. After 5 years she returned to Ireland to Thurles, which became her home for the rest of her life.

The late Peggy Roche who passed away recently

In Thurles Peggy set up her own hairdressing business in the late 1950s, firstly the ‘Myra’ on Cathedral Street in the building that currently houses the Kambo, Chinese restaurant. She later opened the ‘Flair’ hairdressing salon on Liberty Square in front of the main entrance to the Ursuline Convent primary school. She challenged the consensus that women could not run a business independently and spectacularly disproved the assumption by being successfl - she is remembered fondly by many surviving friends and customers from that time and those she had the privilege of training as future hairdressers, including her own youngest sister, Kathleen Cradock.

In Thurles she also took up badminton and continued to enjoy attending dances in venues including the Confraternity Hall. She thoroughly enjoyed the music of the showbands. It was at one of these dances that she met and fell for Allen Roche. They married in February 1962 during a cold snap when Thurles was covered in frost and snow and promptly escaped to Majorca for what was in that time an out of the ordinary honeymoon.

In 1972 Peggy sold her business on Liberty Square and moved to Boheravoroon. Here her focus switched to raising her four children. She was a wonderful mother and homemaker and created a haven of comfort and security for her family.
Peggy’s range of interests broadened considerably as she settled into her new home. She was always willing to learn new skills and embrace new interests. She was in her forties when she finally took up playing golf, a game her husband had been playing long before they met. She soon joined the lady’s golf club committee and became lady president of Thurles Golf Club in 1998. She enjoyed her year as lady President hugely. She remained an enthusiastic member of the club and a keen fan of the game. She was a familiar face in the clubhouse up to very recently and will be missed by the staff, the friends she made there and by all the club members who knew her.

Her involvement in the golf club inspired Peggy to pursue other interests. She took up playing bridge, painting in water colours, flower arranging and joined the local photography club. Peggy was a volunteer with the meals on wheels where she helped to prepare the food.

She rarely missed a production by Thurles Musical Society, attended the Holycross Drama festival and the Source theatre. Peggy thoroughly enjoyed live music and theatre, and spoke fondly of events attended, including the memorable open air Oklahoma in Boherlahan in 2010.
Peggy observed life’s twists and turns critically. She did not easily accept things as they were and was always anxious to make them better.

She was fierce in the loving care of her family and all that she cared about. She also had a great capacity to reach out and welcome new people into her life and home from near and far - for this she earned respect, admiration and much love.
For many in Thurles Peggy’s will have been a familiar and friendly face around the Square and in Roche’s hardware shop beside the recently abandoned Post Office. She will be missed by all who knew her and most particularly by husband Allen, her daughter and grandson in California, her three sons, her sister Kathleen Cradock, family and friends all over the world.
Peggy was laid to rest on Wednesday April 8 after Requiem Mass held in the Cathedral of the Assumption, attended by only a handful of close family members. The current restrictions on gatherings and travel did not entirely prevent those who loved Peggy from expressing their sorrow and grief in solidarity with the Roche family - hundreds of people viewed the Mass via the thurlesparish.ie live streaming service from places as far away as Australia, Brazil and California.

The Roche family hugely appreciated the many telephone calls, cards and messages of condolence received as the news of Peggy’s passing filtered out. The guard of honour by Peggy’s neighbours on Boheravoroon as she left her home and was brought to her last resting place was a fitting tribute and a source of comfort for her family. This time of pandemic will soon pass and then those who knew and loved Peggy will gather to remember and celebrate a life well lived, a devoted wife, mother and grandmother, a loving sister, a caring aunt and dear friend.