The late Miko Kelly At the funeral Mass of the late Miko Kelly, of Church View, Tuam, at the Cathedral of the Assumption, Thursday October 12th, 2006 the following tribute was paid by his long-time friend Jim Carney, Tuam Herald Sports Editor. To me - in humility - falls the honour of paying tribute, on your behalf, dear friends and admirers of Miko Kelly, to the life's work and achievements of a man who we all loved and so greatly respected and appreciated. And for me, it is a privilege to have this opportunity, despite the sadness of the occasion. I consider it to be very important that it should be known publicly, that here in our midst for the past half-a-century and even a little longer than that, was a man who dedicated a great part of his life to the service of others, in such a variety of ways and in a diversity of voluntary roles that he could so unselfishly make manifest the philosophy of Cicero of Rome when he issued the directive, now more than 2,000 years old: "The good of the people is the chief law." Like all who knew Miko well down through the years, I find it difficult to think about him or to talk about him separately from Nuala. They were truly a couple, joined in marriage by love, and united in a happy home life of dedication to family and their shared interests and enthusiasms for the following 46 years. For the record, that anniversary was last Wednesday, but it is actually the 50th anniversary of the year they met, at a dance in the Round Room of the Mansion House, Dublin, to the music of the Mick Delahunty Band! 1956 was the year Jack Mangan, Sean Purcell and Frank Stockwell, and three or four more local lads in the panel, brought the Sam Maguire Cup back to Tuam, and another Tuam Stars man, Miko Kelly met the love of his life. It surely said much for Miko and Nuala as a couple that, for as long as any of us knew them, they were members of a very select, virtually elite, club - people known, entirely through affection and respect, by their Christian names. It was never Mr and Mrs Kelly, or even Miko and Nuala Kelly; it was always, simply, Miko and Nuala - subconsciously, I think, a mark of the esteem in which they were held. Miko was born in April 1932, the Year of the Eucharistic Congress in Ireland (he was proud of that). He was born in the street where he lived all his life, across the road from the house he and Nuala lived in after they were married, and where their children Imelda and Adrian grew up. It has two names, of course: Church View and St Paul's Terrace, the side on which Miko was born. Miko and his brother Tommy and their sisters would have grown up within earshot of the busy Tuam Railway Station, and indeed it became a way of life for them, for Mick Kelly was an engine driver. Later on, Tuam Stadium was to play a major role in Miko's GAA life, and it too was just beyond the wall of his garden. Miko was a well-educated young man; he did the Leaving Cert at the C.B.S and he.joined the Post Office in 1949. For a short while he worked in Castlebar but it was soon back to Tuam where he rose to the rank of Head Postmaster in his native town, the position he held on his retirement in 1997. In earlier times, he was a very keen member of the Boy Scouts; he played a bit of football and hurling, although it was in administration that he found his true sporting vocation, and he joined several local clubs and societies including the Theatre Guild and, later on, the Cathedral Choir and the Marian Choral Society. Add to all that his later life as a public servant and it added up to a remarkable range of interest and activities - all pursued with dedication and a clam, fair, understanding, uncomplaining manner that showed him to be one of the most even-tempered people anybody could ever know. It always appeared that Miko found contentment and satisfaction with life in what a philosopher once described as "the joy of the everyday". Or, the American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson might have had a person like Miko in mind when he said: "One minute spent in anger is a waste of 60 seconds of happiness." Miko was never comfortable with the word "politician"; he preferred to be known as a community activist, as when he and Nuala organised the fundraising "Gala Week" at Toghermore Training Centre for many years. And also, which he became famous for on the then fledgling RTE Television - in glorious black and white! - when he and a friend called "Nuggy" McGrath started the legendary "Cupid Bus" service from Dublin to Tuam to take young people living in cold, lonely Dublin bedsits home for the weekend to go dancing and to let their mothers to do their laundry for them, and send them back to Dublin with fresh supplies of rashers and sausages! I think it was Jim Fahy, a young Tuam Herald reported at the time, who put the name "Cupid Bus" on it and it was the talk of the country. Miko, of course, was a leading figure in the Showband boom in the '60's; he was manager of the very successful Johnny Flynn Band and also of the Las Vegas Ballroom up Dublin Road, beside the Hi-Way Garage there. He first entered public service when elected to Tuam Town Commissioners as an Independent candidate in 1967. In the years since, he was Chairman of Tuam Town Board six times before it became a Town Council, which he twice led as Mayor, in 2001 and two years ago. He was a member of Galway County Council from the early to late 1970s. Through the '70s and '80s and in to the 90's, and this was so unusual it was probably unique, he didn't canvass at the time of local elections. His attitude, and he was genuine and humble about it, was that if the people of the town thought he was for their good they'd vote for him. And they always did; last time out, he topped the poll. He was immensely proud that Tuam kept pace with the march of the Celtic Tiger. He was also a particularly committed to supporting Archbishop Cunname in the provision of housing for young married couples, at The Glebe behind The Deanery, in Dublin Road, and he continued to serve as Chairman of the Housing Aid Society. For close on 40 years he was involved in many, many other worthy initiatives, too numerous to mention here. Although I'm sure that those who knew him well would like it never to be forgotten that he had a special interest in the welfare of both the elderly and the less well-off in society, and all in need of a friendly ear or a shoulder to lean on. Miko had a high profile in the GAA, particularly as Treasurer of Galway Football Board since 1981. He was serving his 26th consecutive in this very responsible position, and as late as the night before he passed to his eternal reward he did his treasurer's work, in the normal manner, in the company of his chairman Pat Egan and secretary John Power around a bed downstairs in Church View. For the record, he was also Treasurer of the Connacht GAA Council from 1986 to '89, while earlier in this GAA life he was a central figure in the running of the Tuam Stars Club in their golden era, winning seven County Senior Football Championship in a row from 1954 to 1960. He was also a county team selector in the 1950s, and he devoted much time and energy down through the years to the development and promotion of Tuam Stadium. In another world now, there will be some wonderful football talk, between Miko, his great friend Sean, "The Master," and Mattie Jack and Enda. And if hurling comes into it, Niall McInerney will be there. Like his long-time friend in Galway hurling, Phelim Murphy. Miko was the man in the eye of the Tickets storm at All-Ireland Final time, and in 1998, 2000 and 2001 Church View was under siege. Miko was nervous...but Nuala took it all in her formidable stride! A lifetime Pioneer, Miko last year received the Fr Cullen Medal for 60 years' membership of the PTAA, the highest honour of the Pioneers can bestow. He also received, last year, a Rehab Galway Person of the Year award, for his lifetime of outstanding voluntary public service in all areas, which had, as its bedrock, the most exemplary standards of decency, generosity of spirit. They were well deserved honours, for as Aristotle said: "In the arena of human life, the honours and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities." It was characteristic of Miko, at that time, that he should wish people to know that he could have achieved little in his public life without the private support of Nuala, Imelda and Adrian and the extended family. Nuala - you so very happily walked along the path of life side-by-side with Miko, and now you have led him to the Gate of Heaven. I would like to end this tribute to our much loved friend Miko with words from the Lebanese poet, philosopher and artist Kahil Gibran: When you part from your friend, you grieve not; for that which you love most in them may be clearer on their absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain. And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit. For in the dew of little things, the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. Agus, le sin a dhaoine uaisle, mar focal deireanach uaisle, mar focal deireanach, do Miko: Solas na bhflaitheas, na gloire, agus solas na sioraiochta ort. There was a very large and representative attendance on both days of the funeral, including a former Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, the Mayor of Co. Galway, Cllr Michael Mullins, members of the Oireachtas including Minister of State Noel Treacy; the members of Tuam Town Council; leading figures from the GAA and other sporting organisations, and representatives of the many organisations and societies which Miko had either been involved in, or had actively supported. Archbishop Michael Neary presided at the concelebrated funeral Mass, for which the chief celebrant was Fr Charlie McDonnell. The late Miko Kelly is survived by his wife Nuala (nee Lynch, Greystones, Co. Wicklow), daughter Imelda, son Adrian, daughter-in-law Valerie, grandchildren Leah and Alan; brother Tommy (Galway), sisters Maureen (Manchester), Bridie (Toronto), Margaret (Eastbourne), Noreen (London) and Eileen (Dublin); nieces, nephews, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, cousins, extended family and a large circle of friends. Courtesy of The Tuam Herald 19 October 2006 Tweet

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