TRIBUTE: Rose Longworth was great servant to Scór

The musicians of Ballymore turned out in force on Sunday to pay tribute with their tunes to a woman who devoted years of her life to the promotion of Irish traditional culture, Rose Longworth, of Killare.

Just eight days short of her 81st birthday, Rose succumbed to the cruel cancer that staked its claim to her eighteen months previously, and the choir and musicians who sang and played at Rose’s funeral Mass threw heart and soul into their performances.

Rose’s death reunites her with her beloved husband Joe, who died four years ago.

Born Rose Riggs at Gainstown, one of a family of eight, the late Mrs Longworth worked in Oliver Buckley’s hardware shop at the Fairgreen in Mullingar.

Following her wedding in 1961, she moved to Killare, where she and Joe were engaged in farming.

From soon after her arrival in her new surroundings, Rose threw herself into community activities locally, joining the ICA, and later becoming involved in the committee that formed to provide Ballymore with a community centre.

However of all organisations with which she was involved, Rose was most associated with Scór, and through it, she was known and esteemed in traditional and cultural circles across the country.

While she did so much to promote Irish music, Rose did not play an instrument herself, although she enjoyed dancing, and indeed participated in set dancing in Scór some years back.

In April of this year, at a ceremony in Sligo, Rose was presented with a special award by Scór, marking her long service to the organisation.

Rose’s interest in Scór grew in part out of her passion for Gaelic games.

“We never miss a match,” she said in a 2010 interview, adding that if there wasn’t one she and her late husband wanted to attend, there would be one they’d watch on television.

Rose was a devoted family woman, and devoted also to her faith, serving as a Eucharistic Minister at Masses in Ballymore.

She was mother to Joseph (Killare) and Áine McMorrow (Lincoln) and is survived also by her granddaughter Dara McMorrow; her daughter-in-law Joan, her son-in-law John; her sisters, Detty Cornally, Mullingar, and Mary Reilly and Ita McCormack, both of whom live in Lincoln; as well as by her brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, and other relatives.

Mrs Longworth’s remains reposed on Saturday at Rooney’s Funeral Home, Ballymore, and the chief celebrant at the funeral Mass at the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer in Ballymore on Sunday was Vy Rev Oliver Devine, PP Ballymore and Drumraney; assisted by the retired PP of Ballymore, Vy Rev Phil Smith and Vy Rev Martin Carley, PP, Rahan.

Her remains were afterwards laid to rest at Ballymore Cemetery.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílis.