RIP: Longford mourns sudden death of ‘resilient and generous’ John Reilly

There was a tremendous sense of shock across the parish and neighbouring areas on Wednesday, August 27 as word spread of the sudden passing of John Reilly, Toome, which happened at his home that morning. 

John was a pillar of the community and his friendly, resilient, and generous nature made him immensely popular both in Mullinalaghta and across the wider region. 

John was born in March 1952 and was the son of Phil and Mary Agnes Reilly of Toome. 

After school in Cloncovid and Granard, he went to Dublin and showed his entrepreneurial skills at a precocious age by managing a grocery store and a number of bars. It was in Dublin that he met his beloved wife Anne, a native of County Laois, and they married the day after his twenty-first birthday in 1973. 

In 1978 they returned to Mullinalaghta where they ran the former Boylan’s of Leitrim (now The Hideaway) for a number of years, and John continued to work at a number of jobs such as milk distribution, and delivery of bread for Pat The Baker, before beginning what became a highly successful bus hire business in Toome, employing a large number of loyal staff driving minibuses and buses and providing a great service to many schools, community groups and individuals in the region.

John’s outgoing and friendly personality was a major asset in this endeavour, being always obliging whether dealing with school transport, bringing people to football matches, parties and functions, or organising excursions for groups such as Arva Active Age and his buses and coaches were an institution in Mullinalaghta. 

He had a great rapport with people and was always considerate to those who he was dealing with, working long hours to oblige his customers, as well as having a great spirit of generosity, especially towards the schoolchildren and teachers in Mullahoran National School where he would always bring gifts of sweets and chocolates at the end of term. 

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John and Anne raised their family in Toome and were inseparable until her tragic early death in 2004, and he was devoted to his children Trevor, Aisling, and Philip Jr., and in turn to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all of whom he lavished with affection and took great pride in their achievements. 

John suffered a number of personal blows during his life with the loss of his beloved Anne, and the passing of his brother Colm at a young age and of his brother, best man, neighbour and best friend Martin, and then with the sudden loss of his eldest son Trevor last year, but he was always resilient and undaunted and provided great support to his daughter-in-law Róisín after her bereavement last year despite his own heartbreak. 

John was extremely generous with his time, being involved with a number of other organisations in the community such as St Vincent de Paul. He was a great raconteur and storyteller, and used those skills as a successful competitor in Senior Scór for the Mullinalaghta club in recitation competitions for many years, with his party piece being ‘The Trimmings of The Rosary’. 

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He also was a successful coach for the Mullinalaghta Community Games, mentoring many draughts teams at county and provincial level over the years. He was a loyal and devoted supporter of the Fianna Fáil party, being the stalwart of the party locally, organising meetings and being a regular teller at the polling station during elections. 

Perhaps most importantly, John and Anne had taken the initiative back in the 1980s of organising water safety and swimming classes at Fitzpatrick’s Shore in Kilmore and providing generations of locals with safety and sporting skills, a task in which he was joined in recent years by his daughter Aisling and his daughter-in-law Lisa. He was honoured last year by the Irish Water Safety Association on the 40th anniversary of the start of those classes. 

The many organisations in which he was involved provided escorts and guards of honour at his funeral last Saturday and his loss leaves a huge void in the community and the wider region. 

John was predeceased by his wife Anne, his son Trevor, his parents, and by his brothers Martin and Colm. 

He is survived by his daughter Aisling, his son Philip Jr., his daughters-in-law Lisa and Róisín, his son-in-law Colm O’Hara, his brother Philip (Bray), his sisters Fran Brady (Dublin), Breege Fox (Arva), Rose Donnelly (Monaghan), and Veronica Treanor (Carrickmacross), his grandchildren Martin, Trevor Jack, Declan, Dylan, Shane, Philip, Niamh, Melissa, Ciaran and Alisha, his great-grandchildren Nada-Leigh, Bonnie and Maisie Rose, his sisters and brothers-in-law, his nephews and nieces, his neighbours, and a large circle of friends to whom we offer our deepest sympathy. 

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The huge esteem in which he was universally held was demonstrated by the large crowds who attended his repose at his home on Thursday and who attended his funeral in St Columba’s Church on Saturday, August 30. The Requiem Mass was celebrated by Fr PJ Hughes assisted by Fr Peter Beglan, with the interment following afterwards to the local cemetery where he was buried beside his beloved Anne and Trevor. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal agus dílis.