Published: Wednesday, 3rd February, 2010 5:00pm

The late Peter Connolly

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The late Peter Connolly, of Cathedral View, who died on Tuesday of last week, January 26, was very well-known and very well-liked in Mullingar.

His death, at the age of 72 came suddenly, although he had been in ill health for some time. He died at the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar.

Mr. Connolly, who spent 31 years in the Army, was referred to by his friends by just one name, "The Bull", a tribute to his skills as a boxer during his participation in sports while in the Army.

Over the course of his army career, Mr. Connolly did a number of stints of duty abroad, and served in both Cyprus and The Congo, and his funeral, on Friday last at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Mullingar, was a military funeral.

Outside of work, Mr. Connolly's two big passions in life were shooting and fishing. He enjoyed nothing more than a day spent out in the countryside or out on one of the lakes, or indeed, if he got the opportunity, doing a spot of sea fishing.

Mr. Connolly was born in Cathedral View, and lived there all his life. He was close to his family, and remembered always his younger brother, Patrick, who lost his life after being shot in Palestine, where he was based with the British army.

Married to Sheila, Mr. Connolly and his wife were a devoted couple: he referred to her always as "Jingles".

At the time of Mr. Connolly's death, he was survived by Sheila, and by his sons Pat (Limerick), the late Martin (Mullingar), and Peter (Mullingar), and by his daughters, Ann (Mullingar) and Rose (also Mullingar) as well as by his grandchildren and his daughters-in-law, and by his two sisters, Lil Nugent, and Josie Conolly, both of Mullingar, as well as by his nieces, nephews, and a very large circle of friends and ex-Army colleagues.