'I thought of my dad a lot while making it': Longford Hospice Homecare crafters ready for fundraiser

When my father was dying, he didn’t want to do it in hospital. He wanted to be brought back to his beloved Derryharrow, a place he never wanted to be far from. He even thought Dublin was too far away, he would be gone too long, he would do anything to avoid it.

Derryharrow, the townland three miles outside Longford town where he had moved when he left his native Drumlish and where he met my mother (they met eyes over a hedge at her homeplace across the road), was the place he loved the most.

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He had built his house with his own hands, and cleared the land by himself, crafting a livelihood for himself, my mother, and us six children. It was hard work, but everyone chipped in.

I remember a very happy childhood in the meadows, our glee at making the frogs’ lives a misery as we chased them, and our delight when we found a corncrake’s nest, even then they were rare enough and we knew to steer well clear. And on the bog, over a little fire, where my father made his legendary tea in an old teapot, blackened with smoke. He would add a sprig of heather to it to give it a unique taste.

It was magical. And Frank Devine was great company, always happy to talk about life and politics.

As his life entered its final days - a sudden decline that came as a great shock to the family - we were at our wits’ end at the thought of losing him, as well as how to make his leaving as painfree and as comfortable as possible. We all scrambled to find out how to manage it. Nobody in the family had any experience of the sort that was needed. Bringing peace to him throughout his slow withdrawal from life was a daunting task.

And then, out of the blue, people we didn’t know started turning up at our busy little house, checking on him, and advising us what to do. At first, I thought they had been sent by the family doctor, or were public health nurses. It turned out they were from County Longford Hospice Homecare.

From the moment they arrived, all we had to do was think of spending time with Dad, they did everything else. We were left free to just love him.

I remember a wonderful woman arriving to stay overnight, she was so calming. It meant we could all get some sleep. Someone was on watch.

So when I met the indomitable Mary Fallon, another fantastic woman and who also taught me in Melview NS, selling woolly goods outside SuperValu in Longford as we were emerging from the Covid lockdowns, I walked in a trance to the stall, such is the effect wool – as a life-long crafter - has on me!

When she told me that she and a small group of women had made everything on the stall and were selling to raise funds for County Longford Hospice Homecare, of course, I signed up. I have been making things for them ever since.

Mary, the founder of Crafters for County Longford Hospice Homecare, and our small crew have raised more than €8,775 since April 2022, funds that go directly to the hospice to help them provide the help and loving care that my father and my family received when he was passing.

It wasn’t just medical expertise they brought to our house then. They brought love, calm, and acceptance to my father and our devastated family that sad last week in June 2000.

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Last Christmas, I crocheted a willow square blanket, a piece people have repeatedly asked me to make because it goes with everything. It was raffled, and turned out to be a very happy revenue generator for us.

I have made another one for this year. It will be raffled as part of this year’s Crafters’ fundraising drive, which takes place on Friday, November 21, at the entrance to Dunnes Store, Dublin Road, Longford. Tickets are on sale from 8:30am to 8:30pm and range in price from €2 to €20.

The blanket will be on display there on the day, as well as hampers stuffed with goods handmade by our busy little crew: from knitted Paw Patrol characters and cross-stitched pictures featuring festive scenes to Christmas decorations and paper angel ornaments made from the pages of old books.

The willow square blanket was in the making on and off for about a year, crocheted in short bursts in coffee shops, planes, parks across London, Longford, Sligo, Donegal, Greece, Spain, and Portugal. I finished it a few weeks ago.

I thought of my dad a lot while making it, having little chats with him, remembering moments we had together… the little stubbly pencils he always carried with him that he used to write on the back of Sweet Afton packets, the contents of which did for him in the end.

His obsession with drawing donkeys, delighted with himself when he’d ask me, what do you think of that one now. They were usually very spindly looking things, but of course I told him they were wonderful. The way he was on first name terms with all his livestock, he named them all.

Dad loved nature, and it didn’t come as a surprise to me when a little bird flew into his funeral mass and whistled and sang around and over his coffin as it rested at the altar in Saint Mel’s Cathedral.

I thought of him while crocheting the blanket because crochet isn’t just about making stuff. When crocheters are working on something for someone, they also think of that person while doing it, wondering how they will like it, hoping it provides snuggles, comfort, and warmth.

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That’s what it means when handcrafters say their work is made with love.

Thank you to all who have bought our crafts over the years. And please support us in Dunnes Stores on Friday, November 21. Grá mór.

* Úna Devine started her journalism career in The Longford Leader under the editorship of Eugene McGee. She has worked in print and broadcasting outlets in Dublin, London, and Los Angeles as an editor, presenter, and producer, including the BBC, ITV, Global Radio, and The Big Issue USA and UK