The late Patricia Flynn

THE death took place in recent weeks of one of Mullingar’s best-known and longest-living residents when Patricia Flynn (née Garahy) died at the age of 95.The late Mrs. Flynn, who had lived at Ballinderry since 1954, was wife of the late Dr. Michael Flynn, who died in 2003.Born in April 1015, at the height of the First World War, Patricia Eithne Flynn was born to Patrick Garahy, a farmer and merchant at Cloghan, Co. Offaly, and his wife, Molly (née Kearney), who came from a farming family from Ballinahown, near Moate.She often recounted impressionable experiences during the War of Independence, especially when some drunken soldiers shot her pet dog, whose name, ‘Rebel’, annoyed the undisciplined troops.Following her education at the St. Joseph of Cluny convent in Ferbane and the Ursuline Convent in Sligo, she worked with Offaly County Council in Tullamore. There she led an active social life and was a keen tennis and golf player when she met her future husband, Dr Michael Flynn who was appointed as assistant county medical officer in the early 1950s. After their marriage in 1953 they moved briefly to Roscommon and arrived in Mullingar a year later when Dr Flynn was appointed as County Medical Officer for Westmeath. Mrs Flynn was well known in medical circles and helped organise many functions for doctors and their spouses throughout the Midlands.Having spent many holidays staying with her Casey cousins, in their landmark Canton Casey’s pub, and other cousins, the Nugents at Churchtown, Ballinea, she knew the town well long before she became a resident, and when she came to live in Mullingar, she became a valued and active member of the local community.Helped many peopleShe had strong Christian beliefs and readily helped people who faced personal difficulties as well as supporting her husband’s work assisting Traveller families in need of housing. In later years she travelled throughout the country supporting him in his role as a member of the Adoption Board.A familiar figure around Mullingar, she regularly walked in the Town Park and to attend Mass often meeting friends afterwards for coffee.The late Mrs. Flynn was also a very active member of the Lake Bridge Club whose members formed a guard of honour following her funeral Mass at the Cathedral of Christ the King. Mrs. Flynn lived independently, with the support of her family, and in the last year, with assistance from the HSE community care team. Her last few weeks were spent in the care of Our Lady’s Hospice, Harold’s Cross, Dublin, where she died peacefully on July 15. Following her burial at Ballyglass Cemetery, on July 18, her son Gerald thanked the many loyal friends who had visited her over recent years and had brought her to and from bridge evenings. He especially thanked her neighbours and the medical, nursing and caring professionals who had supported his mother and helped her live an active life into her mid-90s. She is survived by her eldest son, Gerald, who works in employment relations in Dublin; her elder daughter, Noreen, who is a political party administrator; and her younger son, Fergal, who spent over 20 years as a doctor in southern Africa and who is now a health service manager in the mid-west and lives in Ennis. Her youngest daughter, Mo, who previously worked in Australia and Britain, is a hospital chief executive in Dublin.