Well known Ballylanders community activist Willie O’Mahony has passed away.
For more than three decades, staff at The Avondhu would regularly get a call from Willie, who could spend up to an hour informing us about community events, local causes, upcoming charitable ventures and local politics.
One of four children, Willie attended the local national school in Ballylanders and secondary school in Mitchelstown, making the 15-mile round trip each day to Mitchelstown on his bike.
Of the 25 students who started off the first day in the secondary school in Mitchelstown, only two stayed the course and completed the Leaving Cert – Willie was one of them. He had intended to go onto higher education but instead stayed at home on the farm.
He was also involved with the FAS office for many years and loved to play cards four or five nights a week in all the local places – such as Anglesboro, Galbally and Kilfinane.
Over the years, Willie was involved in a number of local organisations and clubs which fed him material for his weekly notes.
He was also an accomplished footballer in his younger days and was on the panel that claimed the 1952 county football title.
After 30 years of writing local notes for The Avondhu, Willie O’Mahony put down his pen in 2015, though happily he continued to keep in touch and inform us of local happenings up to very recently.
He died, sadly, on Saturday, 20th October peacefully, surrounded by his family at home.
Predeceased by his wife Frances (nee Byron), he will be greatly missed by his son Ger, daughters Aileen O'Dwyer (Ardpatrick) and Annette Kiely (Galbally), daughter-in-law Helen, sons-in-law Pat and Andrew, grandchildren Maeve, Conor and Billy, sister Phil, brother Tom, brother-in-law Jim, sister-in-law Margaret, nephews, nieces, relatives, neighbours and friends, to whom we extend sympathy.
May he rest in peace.
