The late Joe McKeogh The announcement of the death of Joe McKeogh was greeted with much sadness in the south Longford area when news came that the former Kenagh garda sergeant had passed away on Monday, April 17, 2006. A native of the small village of Ballina near Nenagh in Co Tipperary, Joe came to Longford in 1963 after being posted to Kenagh to work as sergeant there. Previously, Joe had worked in a number of other locations in the midlands including Tullamore, Birr and Portlaoise, the latter location being where he met his wife Phil and where three of his six children were born. His first day in Kenagh was memorable in its own right - it was the same day the President Kennedy was assassinated in the US, and was duly poignant for Joe as he had been one of a number of gardai assigned to do security duty when the President had visited Ireland just a few months earlier. Over a decade and a half later, in 1979, once more served on security duty when Pope John Paul visited Ireland, an occasion Joe himself described as very emotional and the hilight of his career. During his many decades in Kenagh, Joe was extremely active in the community as well as the force and was a keen follower of all things GAA related. During his time in Kenagh he held the position of GAA club president, club chairman and trainer and he was also vice-chairman of the club right up until his death. As well as Gaelic sports, another area which held huge interests for Joe was farming and agriculture. He was a keen gardener and part-time farmer and following his retirement in 1987 declared that these were the areas he intended to devote his time to after 32 years in the force. Indeed, so attached was Joe to the country life and to his home in Kenagh that he decided not to move back to Tipperary after his retirement and it was only last year that he finally made the break with Longford and returned to his native county. Sadly Joe's stay was not to be a long one. He was buried in his native Ballina, the funeral was attended by a very large circle of friends and relatives many of whom had travelled down from Kenagh to be present with his family at this sad time. Joe is survived by his wife Phil, son Joe, daughters Mary, Antoinette, Martina, Olive and Brenda, grandchildren, sister, daughter in law, sons in law and a large circle of friends and relatives. May he rest in peace. Courtesy of Longford Leader 28 April 2006 Tweet

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