Sheehan, Sean
June 24, 2010It was with great sadness that the family, relatives, neighbours and friends heard of the death of Sean Sheehan on June 8th.
Sean was born on the 26th of may, 1920 in Coars, Cahersiveen, the eldest of three children. He had two sisters and he remained very close to them and their families throughout his life.
He was brought up on the family farm and married his wife Mary Jo {Nee Murphy} fifty four years ago. It was here that they raised there six children.
In his younger days he had great interest in sport, especially Gaelic football and beagle hunting. He played football with both Dromid Pearses and Foilmore in the 1940's and played an active role and in the formation of the first Dromid Pearses team in 1947 and continued to play for the club.
He regularly cycled to Munster finals in Killarney and attended many All-Irelands in Croke Park, Travelling on 'the ghost train' on several occasions. This train left Cahersiveen at 12 midnight and arrived in Dublin the following morning. He loved the whole atmosphere of All-Ireland weekends and loved to meet people in various pubs in Dublin.
Sean was a very supportive and helpful father at all times to his six children and was always very proud of what they did as well as the achievements of his grandchildren.
He had a very positive influence on their lives. He himself had an amazingly positive attitude to life. He always believed that any obstacles or barriers could be overcome and he encouraged them to do the same. He was always very interested in their lives and any stories they had to tell. He was an extremely sociable man and never hesitated to strike up a conversation with young or old people from all walks of life. He always welcomed visitors to his house and was a great source of information for many American relatives. He also had an exceptional memory and was often called upon to verify facts, dates etc. by many people.
Sean always took a keen interest in current affairs and followed the news on television, radio and the papers in great detail, from local events and stories to international politics.
He was very proud of course, of his family background and his uncle, JJ O'Kelly 'Skellig' from Valentia Island, was a minister for Education. He himself was a republican.
He loved the farm life and all the different types of jobs associated with it from cutting turf to saving hay, oats and milking cows. All of this work was done by hand. Sean had a great interest in buying and selling cattle, an activity which he kept up throughout his entire life. A man of great strength and energy he worked extremely hard and in later years he used to love going to the pub for a drink and a chat when the day's work was done.
Sean remained active until the end and recently celebrated his 90th birthday with a party, a milestone in his life he was proud to attain.
Following requiem Mass in Cahersiveen he was laid to rest in Sugreanna Cemetery. He is survived by his wife Mary Jo, daughters Maura, Brid-Anne, Catherine, Geraldine, sons Timmy and Pat, sister Eileen Cremin (Cork), grandchildren Mark, Gearoid, Orla, Aoife, Eanna, amd Liam, sons-in-law, daughter-in-law, nieces and nephews.
Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dilis
Courtesy of Kerry's Eye
24th June, 2010 Tweet
