OVER 300 PEOPLE gathered this morning in Co Carlow for the funeral of an elderly woman who died with no known relatives.
Mary Regan, 89, died on Friday, 29 November in Hillview Nursing Home in Carlow.
In her funeral notice, special mention was made of the “gentle, loving care” she received from the staff of Hillview Nursing Home”.
The west Cork native was predeceased by her siblings and by her partner Fred.
After the passing of her partner, Mary had no next of kin and received no visitors to her nursing home.
Fearing that no one would attend her funeral service this morning at the Church of the Holy Family in Askea, Carlow, funeral director Rory Healy put out an appeal on Facebook.
“If you can spare 45 minutes to attend the Mass, it would be great to see that a lady who lived to be nearly 90 years will get a farewell from her adopted town of Carlow by the people of Carlow,” wrote Healy.
“Let’s not send Mary off from Carlow alone.”
Speaking to The Journal, Healy said: “Because I knew Mary and her circumstances, I knew that there would be little to no one at her funeral.
“So I thought about it, and I asked to see whether there would be anyone around Carlow this morning that might attend, thinking of maybe a dozen or 20 might turn up.
“Lo and behold, thankfully, over 300 people attended.”
Healy said he was “totally bowled over by response” and said he has never seen anything like the response to his Facebook appeal.
He added: “I’ve never done anything like that post before, because I’ve never been in the position where I’ve had a funeral that the person had little or no one that I knew about who was going to attend their funeral.
“So I was really bowled over by what I saw this morning.”
Healy said he met Mary a few times over the years and described her as a “quiet, reserved lady”.
“She was from Cork and had a lovely Cork lilt and she enjoyed her time in Carlow,” said Healy.
“Unfortunately, she ended up in a nursing home over the past year and a half and passed away on Friday evening.
“But thankfully we got a good send off for her today to send her back down to her native Cork for her burial.”
Mary’s burial will take place tomorrow morning in her native west Cork in St. Fachtna’s Church, Adrigole.
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