Linda Harrison

There was great shock and sadness in the wider Westport area in late October after the sudden and untimely passing of Linda Harrison, a member of the well-known Moran family from Horkan’s Hill in the town.
Linda had been out socialising during the Westival arts and music festival in Westport on the Sunday night of the October Bank Holiday weekend when she suddenly became ill and was immediately brought to Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar. She was subsequently transferred to the Beaumont Hospital in Dublin but sadly Linda passed away in the company of her loving family on Wednesday, October 30, aged just 47.
Linda was born on December 12, 1971 and spent a happy childhood in Horkan’s Hill in Westport with her parents Jack and Margaret, and her two brothers Mick and Jeff.
Linda attended the Convent Primary School and Westport Vocational School before going on to work in several different businesses in Westport, including The West Restaurant, Hoban’s Centra, Carraig Donn and at the time of her sad passing, she was employed in the catering department of Allergan Pharmaceuticals.
It was while working in The West Restaurant that she met the love of her life, Neil Harrison, whom she spent 23 happy years. Linda and Neil would go on to have 5 children, Ali, Declan, Shane, Aoife and Luke. Sadly, for Linda and all of her family baby Shane passed away after a battle with illness at the age of just 10 months in April 1999.
The passing of Shane strengthened the bond between Linda and Neil, and their four children, and the Harrison and Moran families were all there for each other during this difficult period. Linda and Neil were married on the 8th of April 2009 and spent time in Westport and Newton Aycliffe, before returning to Westport in the Autumn of 2012. Linda enjoyed nothing more than socialising with her family and a wide circle of friends and her love of music saw her attend live gigs in Westport on a regular basis. She also loved fishing and she was very much at home out on Clew Bay with her female fishing friends.
Linda wasn’t the biggest of sports fans, but she just loved being out and about with her family on big sporting occasions and she’d regularly enjoy the craic and the banter in Toby’s Bar on the Fairgreen in Westport, watching her brothers beloved Liverpool or supporting the Irish rugby or football teams.
The esteem in which Linda was held by all who knew her during her all too short life was reflected by the huge crowds that attended at her reposing at Navin’s Funeral Home and at her funeral Mass in St Mary’s Church in Westport on Monday, November 4.
Linda was predeceased by her son Shane, and is sadly missed by her loving husband Neil, sons Declan and Luke, daughters Ali and Aoife, parents Jack and Margaret (Moran), brothers Michael and Jeff, sisters-in-law Siobhan and Julie, parents-in-law John and Margaret (Harrison), nieces, nephews, relatives and many friends. May her gentle soul rest in peace.