Tribute: Longford nurse was a great lover of history and very involved in Hillside Club

The community of Ballinalee is mourning the passing of Mai O'Reilly (née McGrath) of Old Clonbroney House, Clonbroney, Ballinalee, Longford who died suddenly in her home on Tuesday, December 17, 2024.

Mai, formerly of Moatfarrell, Ballinalee, is reunited with her beloved husband John, brothers Petie and Paddy, sister Chriss and her parents.

Mai will be sadly missed and always remembered with love by her heartbroken family, sons Peter, John and Damien, daughters Arlene (Hughes), Kathy (Gregg), Patricia and Susanne (Tully).

The popular Ballinalee woman was very involved with the Hillside Club, an active retirement group.

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The club meets every second Wednesday in Currycahill Hall, where they take part in many activities, enjoy refreshments, and occasionally venture away on day trips.

“She loved socialising, she loved going out and about,” her son Damien said, “My father died a year and a half ago. Before that they loved to go out for coffee and things like that. She was involved in the ICA years ago.”

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Mai contributed to the 1997 book Clonbroney with Ballinalee: A Local History that was compiled by the local ICA. This invaluable record of local history is testament to the contribution of the voluntary group.

Mai, a mother of seven, married John in 1961 and his life as a farmer and bus driver made them a very well known couple in the area.

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Damien stated his mother loved meeting people.

“Our father travelled all around the country. She used to go with him on the bus. She had two brothers and a sister, they died in the last six years," he said. “She loved meeting people and travelling. The car would never leave the house without her being in it.

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Damien recalled how when his dad John was driving the bus "she used to go off on tours with him".

Mai was a nurse earlier in her life.

“She spent four years in Stoke-on-Trent in the UK. She had to give up her job when she got married. She met the love of her life, my father, and came back and got married in 1961," Damien said. “They got to celebrate their diamond anniversary just after COVID up in Donegal. They got to 61 years and then unfortunately he died after that. They had a long fulfilled life."

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Mai will also be mourned by her sons-in-law John, Richard and Peter, her adored grandchildren Charlotte, Ian, Laura and Abbey, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, relatives, dear friends and neighbours.

Her Mass of the Resurrection took place at the Holy Trinity Church, Ballinalee followed by a cremation service in Lakelands Crematorium, Dublin Rd, Cavan.