Pat the Baker

Pat the Baker had great love for his native Mayo

Michael Commins

PAT the Baker, who has died in Granard, Co Longford, was a native of Culmore, Kilkelly. At the age of 30, Pat Higgins established his now famous bakery in Granard and, over the years, built it up into one of the best known in the country.
His first cousin, Evelyn Horan, Glann, Kilkelly, yesterday recalled Pat’s great fondness for his native Mayo. “He lived where I am today. He started the business off from nothing. He was a mighty worker. It was nothing for him to get up at 5 or 6 o’clock in the morning when he was starting out in Granard.
He was 84 since August 4 and he was going to Dublin next week to get another medical check-up.
“Pat was great for keeping in touch, by phone and letter. He was like a good brother to me. He had a great ‘grá’ for the Kilkelly area and was a regular visitor to Knock Shrine for many years. The last time he was down visiting me was around three years ago.
He had two brothers and one sister, Sr Melanie, and she lived in London. They’re all dead now.
“He loved to see Mayo doing well in football and he never forgot where he came from. That was the thing about Pat, he was very down to earth in every way.”
In recent years, a special documentary on Pat the Baker, as they all knew him, was screened on RTE. He was a true institution in his adopted county of Longford where news of his passing has evoked widespread sadness and regret.
Pat, who was predeceased by his wife, is survived by his three sons and a daughter, relatives, and many friends. Removal takes place to Granard Church this Tuesday evening with interment after Requiem Mass in Granard at 12 noon on Wednesday.