Holden, Jim
February 05, 2010One of the last great characters of Carlow town sadly passed away recently at the age of 84 years.
James (Jim) Holden of 133 JKL Avenue, Carlow died at St Luke's Hospital, Kilkenny on 23 January following a short illness.
A native of New Street, Carlow, Jim was predeceased by his wife Kathleen (nee Gallagher, a native of Borris) in May 2008. Kathleen's death following 54 years of married life together was a great loss to Jim, who dearly missed his beloved wife.
Educated in Carlow CBS in their former building on College Street, Jim suffered two very tragic bereavements in his early life, the death of his younger sister Marian in infancy and the untimely death of his mother Mary at just 27 years of age. HIs mother died leaving behind two young sons Jim and his brother John.
As a young man, Jim joined the RAF in 1941, which was a family tradition, his father John also enjoying a distinguished career in the British Army. In his early years, Jim conducted tours of duty in mainland Europe, experiencing the height of battle in World War II. In his final year in the army, Jim guarded the Japanese prisoners of war at a camp in Singapore.
The experience of war, the sights he saw and the loss of life he witnessed was something Jim spoke about regularly. One particular incident he recounted was the time he bravely entered the ocean to salvage the body parts of a fellow soldier attacked by a shark, so that his friend would receive a Christian burial.
When he returned to Carlow, Jim married the love of his life Kathleen and they established a home and reared their family in JKL Avenue. Jim was employed in two renowned Carlow based companies during his working life, Carlow sugar factory and Thompson's Engineering, where he was very popular among employees and colleagues alike.
Along with his family Jim's other great love in life was the GAA, in particular O'Hanrahan's GFC. Jim won a championship medal with The Blues in 1951 playing as a wing back and also won a championship medal with Tinryland in 1949, playing in the position of corner forward and scoring a goal during the game. Recalling his playing days, Jim would humorously say: "I wasn't a stylish player but a purist."
Jim remained a staunch member of the O'Hanrahan's club throughout his life and at the time of his death was club president. Even in his later years Jim would be out selling lotto tickets in aid of the club. More recently Jim enjoyed nothing more than a pint at the bar in the club's "headquarters" Carpenter's in Barrack Street, joined by his many friends to discuss football and the events of the day.
In his youth, Jim was also an accomplished boxer and boxed competitively while in the army, Jim was also a noted singer and was regularly called upon to sing at funerals and weddings. His great party piece was the old ballad Shenandoah. As a mark of respect, the song was played as his remains were taken from the Cathedral of the Assumption, Carlow to St Mary's Cemetery for burial.
A large crowd attended his Requiem Mass with guards of honour from both O'Hanrahan and Tinryland GFC.
Jim is survived by his children Marian, Catherine, Elizabeth and Jimmy, his grandchildren Catherine, Laura and Ken, great-grandchildren Jamie and Mikey, relatives and many friends. Tweet
