McDonnell, Patrick Hugh
June 23, 2010
Patrick Hugh McDonnell
The death of Pat McDonnell brought to a peaceful close the life of one of Coonian's oldest residents.
Pat celebrated his 100th birthday on 22nd August 2009. The occasion was marked by a party held in Brookeborough GAA Club, to which he was happy to be able to attend.
Born on born 22nd August 1909, in Bunnisnagapple, Pat was the youngest of five children. He attended Mullinvam School. At 15 years of age, Pat started his working life beyond the home farm, as an apprentice in O'Donnell's Bar & Grocery in Brookeborough. At the age of 19, he began his first of two stints working in the USA, which took up a significant portion of Pat's life.
The first stint, 1928 to 1934, took him to Boston, where he found gainful employment as a manager of a general store. After 6 years he returned to his family farm. In 1963, the US beckoned again. Pat returned to Boston to work as a landscape gardener, which he did so until his retirement.
After many annual summer holiday trips home to see relatives in the Moane's Cross area, Pat returned permanently to Ireland in 1990. He purchased a house in Brookeborough, in which he resided until 2005. Declining health prompted a move to live with his nephew, John McDonnell and John's wife Monica in Grogey. John and Monica, with the assistance of various home helpers cared for Pat until he passed away peacefully in their home.
Pat had a strong love of everything Irish; the music, the folklore and the GAA during the era of the Cavan teams in the forties. He was a frequent visitor to Croke Park, for All Ireland Finals with his contemporaries, Pat Moane, Peter McDonnell, Barney O'Donnell, Johnny Breen, to name a few.
Pat was pre-deceased by his parents, Michael and Hannah, his brothers, John, Michael, and Edward.
Courtesy of Fermanagh Herald
23rd June 2010
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