Eileen Lally

EILEEN Lally, who died earlier this year, was a member of one of the best-known families in the Garrafrauns region. She and her brother Tom operated Lally’s Shop in the village down through the years, a place that was very much at the heart of the local community.

Eileen was born on May 20, 1943. She attended Garrafrauns NS, the St Louis Convent in Balla, and Stella Maris Catering School in Bundoran.

Over the years she had to cope with her own share of ill health. She spent two years in Coleshill Hospital in Birmingham from 1958 to 1960. She often recalled in later times the day when a young Cliff Richard visited the hospital on Easter Saturday, 1960, and the excitement and media attention brought about by the visit.

She worked in the family shop in Garrafrauns village from 1961 to 2010 and also helped out in the bar from 1963 until last year. Eileen had a great rapport with people and loved chatting to the neighbours and friends and all who came to the shop and pub.

Some nights stood out in the history of the bar like the nights members of the Galway teams of 1998 and 2001 brought along the Sam Maguire Cup to Lally’s Pub. Those were memorable occasions when neighbours gathered to celebrate the All Ireland wins …and even a few rambled across the nearby Mayo border to share in the celebrations too!

There was also the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the opening of the pub in 2004 when former Galway legend John Keenan and many more came along to join the Lally family on their big night.

Like her brother Tom, she developed a great knowledge of the area and its people and always loved to promote the Garrafrauns area at every chance.

She had a special fondness for the game of 25 and looked forward in a special way to the regular series of Friday night games in the local hall. Laurence Ryder and Michael Meehan were her special friends for the 25 sessions.

Eileen was a devout Catholic and was immensely loyal to her faith. She visited many of the famous Marian Shrines and places of pilgrimage including those in Portugal, France, Italy, Belgium, Croatia as well as the Holy Land. She also read extensively about those places and they all formed a special part of her life. It was remarkable that Eileen died on her way home from Mass in the nearby church after taking ill suddenly.

Lally’s shop closed some weeks after her death, bringing the curtains down on a business that had opened 73 years earlier in the village. However, Tom decided to keep the pub open, much to the delight of many people in the region.

Eileen was very much a central player in the community life of Garrafrauns over the years and her good neighbours returned that contribution in abundance as they helped out with the funeral. Monica and Pat McWalter, Margaret Manhire, Clodagh Nestor, John Dooley, Mai Dooley, Breda Naughton and her husband Gerry Monks were a great help to her family.

Tom Lally, her brother, delivered a lovely oration at the end of the Mass, referring to her kindness to the schoolchildren down through the years. Eileen made time for everyone and they would all miss her in Garrafrauns, he told the appreciative congregation who applauded warmly.

It was fitting that children from the local school formed a guard of honour on both days, a lovely tribute to Eileen and the part she played in their young lives.

The Mass was concelebrated by Fr Fergal Cunnane, Fr Michael Farragher, Fr John Cosgrove, Fr Karl Burns, Fr Benny McHale, Fr Frank Mitchell, Fr Willie Fallon and Fr Tommy Commins.

In the Mass homily many tributes wre paid to Eileen for the strong Christian role she had played in the Garrafrauns community throughout her life. She had been a great servant of the community and the way in which she practiced her faith each day was truly exemplary.

Eileen is survived by her sister Kathleen in Dunmore and brothers Tom in Garrafrauns and Paddy in Dublin, relatives, neighbours and friends. May she have peaceful rest.