Longford saddened by tragic road death: ‘Mary was vital part of the community’
Sadness descended over the tight knit communities of North Longford following news of the tragic death of 80-year-old Mary Keogh (nee Smyth) Larkfield, Dring.
The Abbeylara native lost her life following a single vehicle road crash on Monday, December 4 in Edgeworthstown.
The late Mary came to Mullinalaghta in 1975 when she married Jack Keogh and quickly became a vital part of the community, assisting her husband and her sister-in-law Mary in the running of the family bar and grocery while raising her four children.
Keogh’s has been a hub of Mullinalaghta life for almost a century and the centre of activity after many community events, whether weddings, funerals, communions or christenings, as well as always being a great football house, and Mary’s welcoming and friendly presence behind the counter was a constant down through the years.
After the passing of her husband she continued to run the pub along with her son Ciarán until her sudden death.
Mary had celebrated her eightieth birthday earlier this year and was in excellent health and an active member of the community, and her sudden and unexpected passing has created a deep void in the parish of Mullinalaghta which will not be easily filled.
The high esteem in which Mary and her family were held was evident in the large attendance at her repose in Our Lady’s Manor, Edgeworthstown, on Thursday evening and in Mullinalaghta church on Friday morning.
Her Funeral Mass was celebrated by her great friend and neighbour Fr. Simon Cadam, assisted by Fr. Michael Bannon PP, Fr. Peter Beglan, Fr. Michael Campbell, and Fr. Michael McGrath, with interment afterwards beside her husband Jack in the local cemetery.
Mary was predeceased by her parents, her husband Jack, her brother Peter, and her sisters-in-law Mary and Maureen. She is survived by her children Seán (Antrim), Maria (Cloonagh), Ciarán (Larkfield), and Peter (Sydney), her son-in-law Ciarán, her daughters-in-law Carmel and Roseleen, her sister Monica, her brothers Dan, Bernard, Pat, and Vincent, her grandchildren, nieces and nephews, relatives, neighbours and a large circle of friends to whom we offer our deepest sympathies.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam caoin agus uasal.