The Late Mary Sullivan Piltown has lost of of its oldest and most popular residents with the death of Mrs Mary Sullivan, Ardclone. Mary who was the youngest and last surviving member of the Cleary family who came to live at the Tower Hill, Piltown in the early part of the last century, died on the day after entering her 92nd year and had lived in Ardclone for the last 50 years. Her late father Patrick Cleary, who was a coachman with Miss Poer O Shee and drove one of the first cars in Piltown, was originally from Moyvoughly Co. Westmeath and her mother Rose Smith came from Mountnugent in County Cavan. She enjoyed excellent healthy throughout her life and was a great cyclist in her younger days. She had been a regular exhibitor at the Iverk Show and she was still reading and doing the crosswords daily up until her final illness. She was meticulous in how she kept her home and herself and she maintained her independence up to the last. As she never wanted to be a burden on anyone she also achieved her long held wish to die at home, made possible by her wonderful care and attention of her immediate family who cared for her up to the end. Mary possessed a deep faith and had a positive attitude to life which allowed her to see the funny side of most situations. Her open, encouraging and postitive attitude and never-say-die spirit was an inspiration to all who came in contact with her, both young and old. At 80, while recovering from a hip operation, she learned to crochet. At 86, a broken arm did not deter her from making the daily cake of bread. She was deeply committed to her family and was always very proud of their achievements. Mary Sullivan loved Piltown, but above all she loved people, and her knowledge of Piltown and its people going back over one hundred years, aided by her brilliant mind and total recall memory, was phenomenal. That love inspired in her family a fascination for the place, its people and its past. She did this through her own fascination for all the people with whom she came in contact during her long life and whom, if she met once, she knew for life. She regularly recalled in vivid detail stories from her school days and how people lived in Piltown at that time. She really appreciated, and got great enjoyment from, live entertainment in the form of theatre, drama and musicals. She also loved hurling and attended Croke Park on some of the great occasions, including the famous Thunder and Lightning All-Ireland Final of 1939, when she always said that herself and her then husband to be, Gerald, were the last two to leave the Old Cusack Stand on that day, the eve of the second World War, amid torrential rain, thunder and lightning. Those of us who remember Gerald will believe that story. She was also there in 1972 when Kilkenny had a fascinating double All-Ireland victory over Cork. Mary Sullivan's husband Gerald died before her. He was a noted runner in his young days and a highly regarded plantsman and beekeeper, and former vice president of the Iverk Show. Her late sisters Margaret Mertes, Nellie Cleary, Sr Bernard Cleary and Rose Hurley also died before her. She is survived by her daughters Kathleen Corry, Dublin, Anne Perrott, Mary Walsh, Piltown who nurses in St Patricks Hospital Waterford and Sr Carmel of the Sisters of St Joseph, Cornwalland her sons Eddie, Patsy and Joe, from Mooncoin. She is also survived by her sons in law Michael Corry, Dublin, Willie Perrott, Cork and Philip Walsh Piltown and by her daughters in law Kathryn, Margaret and Helen Sullivan as well as her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She will be missed. Courtesy of the Kilkenny People September 2003 Tweet

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