Death of Mary O Brien,Longwood.

It's hard to believe but its twenty years since Nora Henry graced us with her presence and moved into Father Flood Park.
Well Mary O Brien was Nora's mother.
Born Mary Barry in Garbally ,Co.Tipperary over 95 years ago this lady emigrated to England during the savagery of the Second World War to work as a cook,survived it and married a Mayo man named Paddy O Brien of Aughagowan ,Westport in 1947 and returned to that Parish with her husband on the death of her father in law IN 1948 to run the family farm.
I have seen the wedding photograph of the couple and take my word for it they were a handsome couple,Mary having the looks of a film star .
Well it was there that their children Nora,Anne,Mary.Julia,John and Oliver were born and largely reared.
Any one with ever the most rudimentary knowledge of farming now or then will know that rearing a family on average acreage needed long and arduous labour and that farm was no exception to the rule.
Mother ,father and all children put the shoulders to the wheel and were largely self sufficient as was the norm in that era.
In 1966 the family moved to Tobertynan ,Longwood and Mary and family continued to farm as heretofore and she remained active right up to a few years before her death,when she moved into the home of her son Oliver who lived nearby ,as age caught up with her.
Her husband predeceased her by 16 years.
During her last years she was cared for at home by her extended and loving family ,children,grandchildren and even had the comforting presence  of her great grandchildren .
They were greatly assisted,I am told by a number of carers who helped attend to her many needs and our Nora was not remiss in this regard.
Nora herself has family in Jamiestown and I know some of them casually.They are of high  calibre as you would expect.
She died on 6th December 2016 ,her Funeral Mass took place in St.Michael's Church ,Rathmoylan and she is buried in Kill Cemetery .
Ar Dheis De go raibh a hAnam dilis.