Eddie devoted his life to educating the young FORMER Carroreigh school principal, Eddie Dunne who died suddenly on August 27 at the age of 65, was a committed educationalist who never stopped valuing the potential of learning and knowledge. Eddie, a native of Camira, Co. Laois came to Wexford in 1964 to teach at the CBS primary school before being appointed principal in Carroreigh in 1970 where he was to spend 29 years nurturing the education of hundreds of young people. Not for Eddie the 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. life. Instead he spent many enthusiastic extra-circular hours coaching youngsters in athletics for the Community Games and in hurling and football. He was chairman of the Rural School Sports initiative which brought primary schools together in healthy sporting rivalry and he was also actively involved in Taghmon/Camross GAA. His contribution to the area was recognised by the GAA club and parents and past-pupils of the school who formed a guard of honour alongside his coffin as it was carried from Clonard Church last week. Eddie was one of those traditional style school teachers who never lost sight of the importance of learning, both for the advancement of his students and in his own personal life even after he retired in the late 1990's. He continued to have an interest in the progress of his past-pupils after they left Carroreigh and always wanted to know how they did in second-level and college exams. A cultured man with a spiritual outlook on life, Eddie had passionate and wide-ranging interests, including history, literature, politics and current affairs. He love art and visited art galleries all around the world during holiday adventures with his wife, Imelda who was also a teacher in Carroreigh, for 25 years. He and Imelda travelled all over Europe together during their working life and after Eddie retired, they went further afield to China and last year they spent two months in Australia and New Zealand. But his favourite place abroad was Spain which he visited many times to immerse himself in the history and culture, since his retirement. He had also begun to to learn Spanish and also studied philosophy. Eddie was a wonderful talker and conversationalist and a generous host who loved people. There were very few subjects under the sun that he couldn't converse about and owing to his keen, intelligent sense of humour, conversations or debates with him were never boring. He was a member of the Board of Wexford Credit Union for many years and served its president. His interest in the movement extended beyond Wexford to chapter and regional level and he was known around the country through his involvement. He was also a member of the Wexford Lions Club. Eddie loved politics and was a member of the Wexford branch of the Fine Gael Party. He had an insatiable interest in political happenings at local, national and international level and in current affairs. He was a life long GAA supporter and rarely missed a Wexford game in Croke Park. He went to the All-Ireland Final every year regardless of who was playing. The tragedy of Eddie's sudden and untimely death is that he was enjoying every minute of his retirement and had so many plans for further travel and discovery in the many aspects of life that fascinated him. A spiritual man, he visited Mount Melleray monastery in Waterford every year and had been there this year on the weekend before he died. On the Monday before his unexpected death at Wexford General Hospital, he went back to Carroreigh, a place that was dear to his heart, to take a look around the school and church. Eddie is survived by his heartbroken wife, Imelda; by his beloved daughters, Aine (Cork) and Fiona (Wexford); by his son-in-law, Des; his brother, Tony (Laois); sisters, Sr. Monica (Oxford) and Josephine (Dublin); sister-in-law, Mary; brother-in-law, Colm, relatives and friends. His funeral Mass in Clonard Church was concelebrated by Fr. Martin Doyle CC, Clonard, Fr. Martin Casey, formerly of Carroreigh and Fr. David Murphy, Carroreigh. Hymns were sung by Imelda's niece, Joyce Byrne and by Roger Piggott while the gifts were brought to the altar by Carroreigh school principal, Jim Dempsey and teacher, Lou Barden. Courtesy of the Wexford People, September 2004. Tweet

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