Tributes as mother of seven laid to rest

The endless energy and determination of a mother who died suddenly two weeks after the birth of her seventh son was remembered at her funeral yesterday.

A teacher at Eyeries National School on the rugged Beara Peninsula, Colleen O’Leary brought her new baby Colm, born on Nov 2, to school to meet her pupils just days before she died.

Her mother Monica Polly, a retired teacher, paid tribute to her daughter at St Kentigern’s Church yesterday, describing her as kind, vivacious, and full of energy, stubborn and determined.

In a candid account of her daughter’s 34 years, Ms Polly recalled a child who stood out from others because of her sweet nature.

“She was so full of energy at all times. She was always very stubborn and determined. She did so many things that she loved to do,” her mother, a former headmistress at Cahermore Primary School near Allihies, recalled.

She told the story of how a young Colleen spotted her husband-to-be on a night out in Castletownbere.

“She came home and told us she’s spotted a fella and said she was going to marry him. She had never spoken to him, but she was going to marry him,” said Ms Polly.

As the family got to know Pat, the father of Colleen’s seven children, they realised “she’d made no mistake” in her choice.

Colleen wrote notes to family and friends, telling them she loved them, but Pat received lengthy letters, often on A4 pages, said Ms Polly.

“Colleen had a great life. She lived it to the fullest, of all the people I know. Even in the end she didn’t waste time. She did it Colleen fashion,” her mother said.

Pat O’Leary sat listening in the front row of the small church filled with mourners that spilled out into the churchyard, flanked by his young sons.

The boys, Padraig, 13, Liam, 9, Tomas and Ciaran, 7, Donnacha, 4, Cormac, 2, and baby Colm, will miss their mother every day, Parish priest Fr Jim Lenihan said. He was assisted by Fr Gerard Godley and Fr Liam Comer, who married the couple and baptised a number of their children.

Reflecting on Colleen’s sudden death as a result of a clot in her leg last Saturday, he prayed for courage for the devastated family.

There was barely a dry eye in the church as the children of Eyeries NS gathered on the altar in memory of their teacher to sing ‘Circle of Friends’, a symbol of community support for the family.

Colleen was later laid to rest at the nearby Gortnabulliga Cemetery.