'We will always remember her' - Mayo community pays tribute to woman after death

KATHLEEN Burke (nee Walsh), Bloomfield, Hollymount, Mayo, who died recently in her home, was a cherished member of the local community and was held in great regard by all who knew her.

She was blessed with a gentle, unassuming and kind nature and it was easy to feel at home and welcome in her company.

Kathleen and her late husband Jim were a very popular couple in the Hollymount and Robeen areas and were regulars at farming, social and sporting events all through the years.

Kathleen and Jim embodied so many noble and kind traits and these have been lovingly passed down to their devoted family of four daughters and the next generation as well.

They were such an integral part of the community life of the region and took a keen interest in the achievements of their grandchildren, some of whom have been much to the fore in GAA and rugby circles.

Jim and Kathleen were especially associated with the horse and showjumping scene for which they had an abiding fondness.

Many were the Sunday afternoons they spent at various shows around the province and they were the guiding figures behind various ventures in the locality.

Malachy, Helen, Karen and Andrew Forde of the Country Club, Hollybrook, were among those paying warm tributes to Kathleen.

“She was a wonderful person and pivotal in organising the legendary gymkhana at the Country Club.

“Her devotion to the community in our area and within the horsing circuit was admirable and always with a warm smile and a kind word. We will always remember her and may she rest in peace.”

Her neighbour, Pat McGovern from Robeen, was also among the many joining in the tributes to Kathleen.

“I have very happy memories of working closely with a very honest, hard working and gracious lady, when Hollymount Horse Show was such a focal point of community life.

“Kathleen was blessed with a long life, and infused so much life into those years. It must have been a great joy and comfort to her to be looked after so lovingly in her twilight days by Paula, Brendan and all her loving family.

"May your goodness be a source of comfort to you all during these difficult days.”

Kathleen was a lady of strong and abiding faith who lent her support to various parish causes over the years.

Jim and Kathleen had a great fondness for family ties and loved to visit relations around the region where many stories and memories of olden days were told and retold with the warmest of affections.

Midwest Radio was a daily visitor to her home and she often stayed with her favourite shows late into the night.

Kathleen truly was one of the grand ‘old stock’ of the area and will be remembered with much affection by all of us who had the privilege of knowing her during her long and contented life.

Reposing was in Fr Paddy’s House and interment took place in the local cemetery following Requiem Mass celebrated by Fr Michael Murphy, PP, in Robeen Church.

Kathleen, who was predeceased by her husband Jim, her brothers Jack, Tony, Michael, Paddy, Tommy Joe, and baby Denis, her sister May Heaps (Liverpool / Abbey Street, Ballinrobe), and son-in-law David Walsh, will be greatly missed by her daughters, Marie Walsh (Cloongowla), Therese (Tommy Dixon), Bernadette (Gerald Farragher) and Paula (Brendan Campbell, Bloomfield), her 19 grandchildren and her 28 great-grandchildren, nephews, nieces, relatives, neighbours and friends.