RIP: Longford mourns death of D.P. Finnegan - an institution in the parish of Mullinalaghta

It is with the heaviest of hearts that we report this week the loss of D.P. Finnegan, Cloonagh, who passed away last Monday, May 5, peacefully though unexpectedly, in Tullamore Hospital. 

D.P. was an institution in Mullinalaghta for decades, at the heart of the community through his stewardship of Cloonagh Post Office, his decades-long loyalty and involvement in so many roles in Mullinalaghta St Columba’s GFC, his chronicling of the events of the parish in his indispensable notes in the News and the Leader over a generation, his participation in so many community organisations, and his friendly and humorous presence in our lives that touched everyone across the eleven townlands. 

Dominic Pius Finnegan was born on June 30, 1954 and was one of five children of Joe and Katie Finnegan, who ran the post office in Cloonagh for many years. He was bereaved at a very young age by the death of his father, and after his education in Cloonagh National School, Moyne Latin School, and Cnoc Mhuire, Granard, he worked alongside his mother managing the post office, a role in which he excelled due to his gifts of efficiency and sensitivity in dealing with others. 

Whether it was an old-age pension or a dog licence, a television licence renewal or some Lottery tickets, Cloonagh Post Office was one of the centres of activity in the community, with first Katie and D.P., and then D.P. by himself after Katie’s sudden passing in 1996, continuing to provide excellent service until he accepted a retirement package in 2018. 

One of D.P.’s main passions in life was sport, with equal loyalty to the maroon-and-white of Mullinalaghta and to the Red Devils. He was an avid follower of the fortunes of the team from Old Trafford and made several visits there over the years to take in the atmosphere and support United – even if success was thin on the ground in recent years. 

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But the overwhelming preoccupation of his life was his support of Mullinalaghta, whether as a regular supporter on the sideline present at every match, or as an administrator behind the scenes, taking on various roles over the years as treasurer and as secretary, where his good head for figures and organizational skills were a major asset. 

Having served through both the highs and the lows of the club’s recent history, he was particularly delighted to be able to take part in the club’s more recent triumphs, and he was honoured by the club in recent years by being appointed as one of the Honorary Vice-Presidents of Mullinalaghta GFC with the club providing a guard of honour at his funeral last Thursday. 

D.P. was able to put his entrepreneurial skills to use in the cause of the club by being a highly-successful seller of Lotto tickets, with his presence in pubs, accompanied by his trusty sidekick Mairéad McGivney, being a guarantee of success for club funds (although D.P. was able to combine business with pleasure by bringing along National Lottery scratch cards on his travels as a bonus for his customers) and there were many fond reminiscences of his visits when talking to people in the pubs in Kilcogy last weekend. 

D.P. had been one of the top students in his year in Moyne and his intelligence was a great benefit to the club’s Scór quiz team, with pilgrimages to All-Ireland finals in Killarney, Belfast, and Sligo as part of the brains-trust. D.P. was at the centre of many other community organisations being an indispensable volunteer for groups such as the Development and Tidy Towns Committees. 

Of course, for readers of this newspaper, D.P. will be best-known as the Mullinalaghta correspondent of the Leader, where he faithfully provided weekly notes over a period of almost thirty years, taking over in 1993 after the sudden death of the previous correspondent, Margaret “Mrs. Connie” Reilly of Clooneen, and only laying down his pen in January 2022. During those years, no week was complete without turning the pages of the Leader to the Mullinalaghta notes, where the business of the community over the years was faithfully chronicled, with the usual “hatches, matches, and dispatches” being accompanied by the occasional “blind item” where the (mis)adventures of local farmers or of wedding guests locked out of their cars were related without any names being mentioned; all was written in a gentle teasing good humour and was taken in the same spirit. 

D.P.’s quick wit and keen sense of fun was one of his most attractive characteristics and, in the words of Fr. Bannon at his repose last Wednesday evening, he was “well-got” everywhere, with the large attendances at his repose and at his funeral in Mullinalaghta on Thursday being testament to the great affection in which he was held. 

D.P. was active in his retirement and was always highly sociable, ready to have the crack with anyone. He was a familiar face walking on the roads of the parish in his hi-viz vest, always ready to stop and have a conversation with anyone he met. He was a frequent visitor to his great friends in the McGivney family, particularly to Patsy and Mairéad, and got great help over the years from them. 

He was, as I said at the beginning of the article, an institution in the parish and his sudden absence is a loss which will be greatly felt and which will take a long time to come to terms with. 

He was predeceased by his parents, by his sister Kitty who died in infancy, and by his brother Patrick who passed away last year. He is survived by his brother Martin (Cloonagh), his sister Moira (Carra), his cousins the Bradys, his great friends the McGivneys, his cousins, his relatives, his neighbours, and his friends, to whom the entire community of Mullinalaghta extend their deepest condolences. 

His repose took place last Wednesday evening in Our Lady’s Manor, Edgeworthstown, with his Funeral Mass on Thursday being celebrated by Fr. Michael Bannon P.P., assisted by Fr. Simon Cadam. He was interred afterwards in the family plot in Mullinalaghta graveyard alongside his parents, his brother and his sister. Suaimhneas síoraí ort, a D.P., agus ar dheis Dé go raibh d’anam dílís. To paraphrase the notes on the week after the Leinster final in 2018, “You were MULLINALAGHTA.”