Jimmy O'Connor When a royal personage dies a royal herald intones 'The King is dead. Long live the King'. And so let it be with Dromod's Jimmy O'Connor. Jimmy may be dead, dead in so far as his mere mortal coil is in the cold clay of Annaduff churchyard and his soul with the Heavenly Father, but his spirit lives, and will live for generations as yet unborn, around his native Dromod. In years to come old men will tell their grandchildren: "Jimmy O'Connor a great man in my youth, I was proud to know him." As news of Jimmy's sudden death reached us and spread throughout the area a line of Irish poetry came most readily to mind. I think it summed up the feelings of the entire area. "Ta ceo dubh ar gach sliabh" ( There is a black fog on every mountain) Rarely, if ever have I seen such a veil of deep genuine sorrow almost to the point of sheer depression, as witnessed here with Jimmy's death. Jimmy, 56 swept from us in the prime of life. The suddeness of it all made it the more difficult to understand. Jimmy O'Connor can only be described in the words of St Paul "He was all things to all men". Jimmy O'Connor, publican, restaurateur, gentleman and sportsman was the epitome of the new Dromod. Jimmy, a native of the village opened up his bar and restaurant here many years ago. People thought he was foolish in 1986 to venture into this, as a restaurant in Dromod was unheard of. But Jimmy loved his native Dromod and was willing to put the money into the village. Jimmy watched his business grow. He had the immense satisfaction of seeing his customers come back time and time again as his fame spread throughout the entire county and then into the neighbouring counties. For many years now Jimmy's has been not alone well known nationally, but inernationally with the many foreigners he served while they cruised the nearby Shannon. Jimmy in point of fact was a pioneer in a evolving Dromod. He almost single handedly by his foresight and business acumen, brought out little village into the bigger world. Well may we think of Jimmy and his contribution to our village in the words of the Latin poet who wrote 'Exegi monumentum, aere perennis' (I have raised a monument more lasting than brass). And Jimmy was a true son of the village as he pumped profits back into the business and into village development, because Jimmy believed in Dromod. Jimmy saw potential in the village. He wanted a better Dromod, a Dromod with, a better quality of life than he knew in his youth during the harsh economic climes of the 1950s. That was Jimmy, and that to me is basic patriotism. But above all else Jimmy was a GAA man. Fear CLCG fo smior a chnamha ( A GAA man to the marrow of his bones). An All-Ireland colleges medal winner with St Mels. His business was known to GAA folk the length and breadth of the land. A man generousto a fault in spnsoring any GAA cause that came to his door. We must recall that when Leitrim senior team had no sponsor Jimmy stepped into the breach. He continued that sponsorship with the county minors for years. He loved Leitrim football as the many pictures in his premises will illustrate. But he was more than that. While many appreciated his donations to various sporting and charitable bodies, he will for ever be remembered by his ready smile and charming grace, a grace that made one feel totally welcome and at one's ease, immediately on entering his farfamed hospitable premises. He was a kind man. He simply had not the nature in him to refuse. The man, who drove the Merc, the man who wore the fashionable suit or the man that hopped of his tractor for a quick pint en route home with a load of turf, all came the same to Jimmy. All were received with equal courtesy but then that was Jimmy. Decency was Jimmy's middle name. I visited Jimmy four or five times a week for the coffee and the chat especially since I had the amputation and in many repects I could classify myself as his confidante. Days we spoke at length. Days each man kept his peace. We were always happy in each other's company. He is one I will never ever forget, a true friend, and I can count myself among thousands such, rich and poor, from Donegal to Cork, from Dublin to Galway. And dare I finish without mentioning Jimmy's tremendous generosity to the mentally handicapped this I know at first hand from his friendship with my own Downs Syndrome daughter. Presents for birthdays, presents for Christmas for special occasions presents when he came back from holidays, pocket money for holidays, dinner, breakfast or tea as requested all on the house. He developed a sense of independence in our daughter for which we will be for ever grateful. Just another personnal recollection of Jimmy's greatness. But then that was Jimmy. Fear ann fein, made by a loving God who must then have thrown away the mould as I never have met another such fine character in my 71 years of life. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dhilis uasal. Nil Jimmy imithe uainn ach romhainn. In the immortal words of an t-Oilenach 'Ni bheidh a leitheid ann go deo'. To family and friends and all who mothe passing of one of nature's greatest ever gentlemen I tender sincerest deepest and most heartfelt sympathies, I Iionta De go gcastar sinn. Courtesy of the Longford Leader October 3rd 2003 By Cormac McGill Tweet

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