An appreciation: Michael Tierney, RIP, 1948-2023

Michael Tierney of Main Street, Moate, and formerly of Keoltown, Ballinea, and Caheramore, Kilshanny, County Clare, passed away peacefully on the morning of May 22 at South Westmeath Hospice, Athlone, following an illness bravely and quietly borne.

Michael was a warm, open, endearing, trusting, kind, intelligent, witty and brave man. His loss rests heavily on his immediate family, especially his only surviving brother John, John’s wife Doreen, their son Patrick, daughter Tara and Michael’s extended family and wide circle of friends.

All are consoled by, and deeply appreciative of, the numbers who attended Michael’s repose on the Tuesday evening, May 23, his funeral Mass and burial rite on May 24 and the many who posted condolence messages and made personal contact with the family. It is so heartening than in a time when so much may appear to be superficial, the genuine person is still recognised and respected.

Those fortunate to have known Michael will remember his vibrant spirit, his standout presence in any company, the infectious humour and banter he brought to young and old in social gatherings in the communities where he lived his youthful and adult life and, latterly, to those he encountered on the street of Moate wearing one of his trademark hats, usually accompanied by his adopted dog, Patch, or cycling in the Moate hinterland, and certainly never in a hurry.

Patrick Kavanagh’s lines reflect Michael’s approach to life: ‘We are in too great a hurry. We want a person or thing to yield their pleasures and their secrets to us quickly, for we have other commitments. But it is the days when we are idle, when nothing appears to be happening and when no one is looking, which provide us with all that is memorable.’

Michael grew up in Caheramore, Kilshanny, County Clare, a windswept farming townland midway between the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher, and moved with his parents and two brothers to a farm at Keoltown, Mullingar as a teenager in May 1965, and from there to Moate on his marriage to Carmel (Stones) in late 1994.

His formative years coincided with a time when mechanical and technological advances were transforming life, in Ireland and elsewhere, and when work theretofore done by a combination of manpower and horsepower was being done by machinery.

He witnessed the electrification of rural homesteads, and the benefits, and the gradual introduction of such wonders as television, cinema, carnivals, discos and much more.

But Michael was discerning in such matters and while welcoming and adapting to the best of what science and technology was making available, he remained true to his heritage, seamlessly forming a bridge between the best of the old and of the new, and between past and current generations.

Notwithstanding, therefore, the social transformation that he experienced, when many of the better aspects of the traditional way of life and pastimes of his parents and grandparents were sadly being abandoned, with so many enthusiastically embracing all that modernity seemed to offer, Michael preserved the cultural and social norms that so many were consigning to the dustbin of history. Those found continued expression throughout Michael’s life in his appreciation, and sharing, of local lore and traditions, music, poetry, song and stories of Ireland’s rich history and culture.

He had a photographic memory and his extraordinary capacity to recall vivid childhood episodes never ceased to surprise. His memory held a prodigious store of images, settings, events and people, especially characters who had left an indelible impression on him during his formative years in Clare. His impressionable young mind, filled with such recollections, contributed to his storytelling ability in later life – as well as his recitation and ballad renditions, always delivered in his own inimitable style.

His mind was a human repository of insights into the subject we broadly refer to as the human condition. He was a veritable encyclopedia of our common and collective heritage, folklore, and local social history that so many of us have regrettably long forgotten. He was a living and precious link in every conversational exchange between remembrances of times past and present-day lifestyles.

His memory of the first motor vehicles to speed through his neighbourhood – details not only of those early models and their colour, but the horsepower and registration numbers of what are now long considered vintage or classic cars – was astonishing and no doubt predisposed him to a lifelong interest in the socially and mechanically interesting hobby of vintage cars.

Through that interest, Michael made many friends, in Westmeath and throughout the 32 counties and beyond.

Michael had no time for pomp or pretence – he made no distinction between prince and pauper and would happily engage equally with either. It is not an exaggeration to say that Michael had about him an almost charismatic quality –a nature you could not help loving and a heart that was purer than gold.

Bryan McMahon, the late schoolmaster and author, said of his fellow north Kerry singer/songwriter, Sean McCarthy – many of whose songs were favourites with Michael – that ‘Sean McCarthy dared to be himself’. Similar courage and authenticity applied to Michael – and because Michael dared to be himself, he was cherished by the people who knew him best in Clare and Westmeath and wherever else he travelled.

Slan leat, a Mhichil. You always looked for the best in others and gave the best you had. Ceol na nAingil a gcloisfidh tu agus leaba i measc na Naomh go raibh agat with your beloved Carmel in Kilcurley cemetery, Tubber.

Following completion of current renovations, Michael’s months mind Mass will be celebrated in St Patrick’s Church, Moate on Sunday, July 23 at 10am.