Frank Conmy

My father, Frank Conmy, from Ballynumera, Bangor Erris in Mayo died peacefully on February 18, 2014 in Cambridge, aged 82.  His was a life lived to the full, in many ways typical of the hard working émigrés that came to England looking for work in the early 1950’s. He was a prominent personality in the Mayo community in Cambridge since moving there in 1956.
Along with his neighbours, the Deane family, he started D & H Contractors, for over 20 years a successful groundworking firm until its demise in 1984.  The familiar red & yellow transit vans were to be seen in and around the roads of Cambridge normally driven by men from Ballycroy, Mount Jubilee, Geesala and surrounding parishes of North Mayo, many of whom also settled in Cambridge to raise their families.
My dad was full of energy and had wide interests in boxing, fishing, and bowls and enjoyed a pint as much as any man. He loved to travel to the Royal Albert Hall to watch the big fights throughout the 1970’s & 1980’s.
Everywhere he went he made friends, everybody seemed to know Frank for his generosity and good humour. Every year he took his family to Mayo for a two week holiday full of adventure and fun. He had a real style.
Frank was born in the Bronx in 1931, his parents returning to the family farm in Ballynumera during the depression the following year. His siblings all chose to emigrate to New York, Frank alone went to England, working on building sites in London and Cornwall, meeting his wife in Brentwood, Essex before settling in Cambridge. He married Beatrice Regan of Kilmovee, Co Mayo in 1960, and raised three daughters, Anne, Breege and Mary, and a son, Michael.  Beatrice died in 2007, and Mary died last month.
His funeral takes placy at Our Lady’s and the English Martyrs, Hills Road, Cambridge on March 6 at 1.30pm.
A reception will follow at the Rathmore Club, Cherry Hinton Road, Cambridge. All welcome.
Email Conmy@talktalk.net for more information.
May her rest in peace.