On Wednesday past ,29th.May 2019,Sean cast off this mortal coil.
He had died in his sleep in his 78th. year and although I haven't yet seen him I am assured that his demeanour is such that he died peacefully.No man deserved a peaceful death more than Sean did as he was one of natures gentlemen and I am fairly sure that he never did a bad turn on anybody.
Sean was a first cousin of my mother's Peggy Mc Cormack,his father Ned being a sister of my granny Kate Mc Cormack.
Ned's wife died when the kids were small and my mother used walk from the Curragh Boreen to Bohermeen to babysit the Mallon kids.
I am sure they are comparing notes in Heaven at this stage and I am sure that his sister Baba is joining in the conversation.
All the Mc Cormacks of that generation are dead and all the Mallons save Larry have passed over and one thing they all had in common was the gift of good conversation and a withering sense of humour.
T o put it bluntly they could all cut the boots from you if you asked for it.
I'd say that the get together around God's table of these cousins is riveting. I suspect that even Jesus is not spared the odd cut.
Sean was a decent man,a family man par excellence and there was not a mean bone in his body.
His aunt ,my granny used feed any tinker who called to her door and it is no coincidence that the tinkers used camp adjacent to Ned's house decades ago as they were sure of a hand out or a leg up if the Mallons had it.
IT is rumoured that Sean as a kid went begging with them on occasion...
Recently he gave them full permission to draw water from his well and loaned them his trailer as they needed it.They did not abuse this privilege.
Sean was a man of many work talents and was big in the cattle trade for many years.This came to an end when European Agricultural regulations decreed that the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of Euros would have to be made to provide overnight lairage for the cattle ,money he did not have.
Never a man to be put down he remembered a quarry in his property from his father's time and physically dug out stone and sustained himself and the dependent family members for a period until ill health overcame him.
He was a game man and a trier to the very last.
Sean was a bigger than life man as long as I knew him.Not only was he physically big but he exuded a presence in any company that drew people to him.HE was a great conversationalist and full of fun.Irrepressible and great company.
Of late his great friends Liam Harte and ,when he was able Georgin Herterich,were his wingmen and what a crew they were.I often tn went on the beer with him.
We take a lot for granted in this Country presently.Just over a hundred years ago we were a slave Nation ,a colony of the Brits and certain people put their lives on the line to get our freedom.
Sean's father Ned and two of his brothers put their lives on the line as IRA members for the periiod of the War of Independence in the fight for freedom.
Mc Cormack's house was a safe house.Kate wasn't going to let her brothers live under the open sky while on the run.
To his people we owe a huge debt and we sometimes forget this.
The Mallon household was a welcoming one and this was and is due hugely to his wife Mary ,who serves up only the best in grub and hospitality,a welcome I can vouch for as I have often enjoyed it.
They were not only husband and wife but great friends as far as I could see..
She must be heartbroken,as must be their children ,Eamon,John.Lillian ,Sandra and Maria.They were predeceased by their son Patrick just as was entering his prime of life and this left a permanent emotional scar.
Larry is his only surviving sibling ,another great man for the conversation and enjoyable company too.
His nephew Gerry Murtagh is a friend of mine and he to possesses those qualities that made Sean such an outstanding individual.
As do his children.
To all these,his grandchildren .other family ,in laws and friends too numerous to mention I offer my sincere condolences.
His remains will be reposing in his house in Bohermeen on Friday from noon until 9.00 p.m.
The funeral Mass will be on SATURDAY AT 11.A.M in Bohermeen and his remains will go thence to Lakelands Crematorium ,Cavan.
Ar Dheas De go raibh a hAnam Dilis.
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