Nearly there
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+R.I.P. Maureen Connolly+
Maureen and Jim Connolly on a Listowel Street on Wednesday, January 8 2020, a picture of enduring love.
Maureen, with her great friend, Una, at a Knitwits Christmas party in Scribes.
Maureen passed away on Sunday September 8 2024.
The following is her obituary as posted on the US website of the funeral director;
Maureen Connolly
Mary (Maureen) T. Connolly, formerly O’Connell nee Leahy, aged 79, of Leonia New Jersey and Trien Kilmorna Listowel County Kerry Ireland died peacefully on Sunday September 8th 2024 surrounded by her loving family.
Predeceased by her parents Timothy & Hannah Leahy, her Sister Margaret(Peggy) Horan and Brother-in-law Brendan Horan & brother Michael Leahy, husband’s Daniel(Danny/Donie) O’Connell(1980) and as of late James(Jim) Connolly(2023), and nephew Billy Leahy.
Mary is survived by her daughters Johannah O’Connell-Neu(Tim) and Teresa Turek(Mike), Grandchildren Daniel, Nicholas and Kierstyn, brothers Willie Joe(Eileen), Teddy(Margaret), Pat(Mary) & Jerry(Mary), Aunty Phil and many nephews and nieces, cousins and in-laws.
Mary immigrated to the US on October 4, 1964 at age 19. Mary met Danny & Married in 1968. They resided in Connecticut where Johannah & Teresa were born and later moved to Inwood New York where she worked as a deli clerk at Finast.
After the passing of her husband Danny in 1980 Mary thought it best to move to Leonia NJ to be near her sister Peggy & raise her daughters there. Mary worked at Grand Union in Fort Lee NJ
as a deli clerk for 32 years. As she was a widow at a young age she had multiple side jobs to provide for herself and her daughters.
Mary then met Jim in the 1990’s along with his children Desmond, Corinne and Patricia. Jim & Mary were married in 1999 and later retired to the land they both loved….Ireland. Mary traveled frequently between Ireland and New Jersey to be with family and friends.
Mary loved knitting …..especially with her Knit Wits knitting group and she enjoyed going to the Listowel Community Center. In Leonia you would find her walking everywhere and chatting with everyone she knew. She was a proud strong Irish Kerry woman and often showed off her Irish jigs, Irish dancing and singing her Irish songs. She also enjoyed country music, Bingo & word searches. But most of all she was a very proud Nana to Daniel, Nicholas and Kierstyn who she loved so much.
The family will receive their friends on Thursday September 12, 2024 at the Frank A. Patti and Kenneth Mikatarian Funeral Home 327 Main Street “opposite the Fort Lee Library”. The interment will take place at Ahavoher Cemetery In Knockanure, County Kerry, Ireland. For condolences, directions, or information www.frankpatti.com or call (201) 944-0100.
The service information in Ireland is as follows:
Reposing at Finucane’s Funeral Home
Moyvane, County Kerry Ireland V31 K510
Mass of Christian Burial at Corpus Christ Church
Knockanure, County Kerry Ireland
Maureen in her happy place, among some of her Knitwits friends in Scribes.
I met Maureen on my first day at a knitting group start up in Off the Square café (now Dough Mamma) in 2011. Maureen was outgoing and friendly, a great knitter, always willing to share her skills.
The knitting group grew. People drifted in and out of the group. We changed our name from Knirvana to Knitwits. We changed location to Scribes on Church Street. Maureen was a constant.
She would often arrive, straight from Anna, her hairdresser, looking a million dollars, ready to tell us stories and to give us all a laugh.
Maureen loved Namir and Abraham and later Brigitta. She always made a point of befriending the workers wherever she was. A life in service had taught her to appreciate the people who serve us.
With Maureen and Namir in this photo is another great knitter, no longer with us. Eunice and Maureen shared a passion for knitting and giving. May they rest in peace.
Namir opened a craft shop in Church Street, Craftshop na Méar. Maureen loved volunteering there. Here she is with her two Saturday shop buddies, the two Eileens.
Maureen sitting by the range accompanied by the shop mascot, Dinny
The shop eventually closed. Then Covid came and Scribes closed. Maureen missed the social interaction and the cut and thrust of the meet-ups. I met in her town in 2020. She was still smiling despite a few bouts of ill health. She was now enjoying her trips to Ard Chúram and her new friends there. She was still travelling to and fro to the U.S. and her family there.
Her beloved Jim passed away in 2023. She had already lost her dearest sister, Peggy. Her own health was deteriorating. Her ties to Kilmorna were weakening. She couldn’t really carry on alone in her old home. She missed her daughters and family in the U.S.
I lost touch with Maureen when she relocated to the U.S. to be looked after by her dear family there. I thought of her often and the fun, the laughter and the stories in Scribes and in the craftshop.
Maureen Connolly was one of a kind. May the sod rest lightly on her kind soul.
Maureen Connolly, not gone from us, just gone before us.
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Looking Forward to Raceweek
Haven’t race cards come a long way?
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BnM and Stanley
Remember the Mona room heater? it was a collaboration between Bord ns Mona and Stanley of Waterford and it burned briquettes.
Dave O’Sullivan found this in The Connaught Tribune November 11 1961
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A Fact
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