Tony put locals first for jobs in Mosney holiday camp
ANTHONY McCullen, who has died aged 86, was a key member of the management team at Butlin’s Mosney - later Mosney Holiday Centre - for almost 30 years.
And in the course of a lenghty career, including 13 years as general manager, he made a significant contribution to the running and development of the local holiday camp business.
Anthony Peter (Tony) McCullen was born and reared at the family farm in Gormanston.
He was educated at Stamullen National School and St Brendan’s College in Balbriggan, a former secondary school opened in the 1940s by Kerry native Dan O’Shea, who later taught in Gormanston College.
A contemporary of Tony’s at St.Brendan’s was Dermot Reynolds, a retired teacher, now living at Whitecross, Julianstown.
Tony, who was unmarried, had been ill for some months and died in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda on November 15 last.
He was the youngest and last surviving child of Patrick and Mary McCullen (nee Murray) and was born on May 14 1931.
He was predeceased by his sisters Sheila (Foley) Betty (Daly) and Maureen (Foulkes) and brothers Jimmy, Nicky and Dessie.
Another brother, Patrick Joseph, died in infancy aged 9 months.
As a young man Tony spent many happy years working on the farm and for a spell in the 1950s ran his own bookmaker’s office in Gormanston.
He joined the permanent staff of Butlin’s Mosney in 1961 and initially worked in the allocations and accommodation departments.
Tony later took over as personnel manager from Jim Tuohy, a former Julianstown man and later deputy general manager, who left Mosney in 1969 after securing a position as general manager with Tramore Failte in Waterford.
Jim had earlier replaced Tony’s sister, Maureen McCullen, as personnel manager following her marriage to Frank Foulkes, a director of the Ranks Organisation, which sold Mosney to local businessman Phelim McCloskey in 1982.
In 1974 Tony was appointed general manager following the retirement of the late Desmond Scaife - a former secretary of the Leinster Rugby Branch - and held the post for 13 years until he stepped down himself in 1987.
With a weekly intake of 3,000 residents, between 1,000 and 2,000 day visitors and upwards of 700 staff, Butlin’s Mosney required a high degree of departmental planning and preparation to ensure its smooth running.
Asked once about the mammoth task of overseeing a busy holiday camp, similar in many ways to a small town, Tony replied: ‘A captain is only as good as his crew.’
Over the years Tony was known for ‘ looking after’ the locals first when it came to seasonal jobs and for many it will be his defining legacy.
And by locals it was not only those living in the immediate vicinity but many from the wider Meath, Louth and Fingal region.
His long association with Butlin’s Mosney encompassed the golden years of the holiday camp era, particularly the 60s, 70s and 80s, a nostalgic period before the advent of package holidays and affordable overseas travel.
Mosney ceased to be a holiday venue in 2000 and today is a direct provision centre accommodating asylum seekers.
A keen sportsman, Tony was an accomplished table tennis player in his youth and was a member of the Stamullen team which won the Leinster Junior Table Tennis title in 1955.
Tommy Caffrey, the legendary Irish International Table Tennis Champion, and a Gormanston native himself, recalled the achievement with pride.
‘ Tony, along with my brother Larry and I, were the three members of that team. It was my own first big win and I’m so glad Tony was part of it.’
Tommy added: ‘ Time changes everything. The characters have all gone from the game and none will be more missed than Tony.
‘He was undoubtedly one of the rare breed and all of us who knew him will be the poorer for his passing.’
Tony was also a staunch Meath GAA follower and in his younger days played in various positions with St.Patrick’s GFC in Stamullen.
The Pat’s officials duly remembered the service he had given and on the day of his funeral the club flag proudly draped his coffin in tribute to his time as a player and supporter.
No appreciation of Tony’s life would be complete without reference to his other great sporting passion - horse racing.
He regularly attended the popular Laytown and Bellewstown meetings and on occasion was a familiar figure at other racing events around the country.
Indeed his name, as Fr Kelly said, was ‘synonymous with horse racing, someone who enjoyed a flutter and was a keen student of form.’
Other leisurely pastimes he enjoyed were crosswords - which he was skillfully and successfully solving until shortly before his death - and a game of cards.
He also liked a drink (his favourite tipple was a pint of Guinness) and was not above a spot of banter with the regulars in McDonough’s Pub in Bettystown.
During his years in Bettystown ,Tony became firm friends with members of the McDonough family.
His association went back to the sixties when two of the McDonough clan - Donie and his late sister Madge - were work colleagues in Butlin’s Mosney.
This week Tony’s family said they wished to thank most sincerely his great friends who were so supportive during his illness.
Another enduring link with the Mosney days was maintained over many decades
when he joined former personnel manager Aileen Regan and her family in Bettystown for Sunday and Christmas dinner.
Said Aileen: ‘ After all these years it is hard to believe that Tony has gone. We drank a toast to his memory on Christmas Day but there was sadness at his absence.We will miss his company greatly.’
An affable and popular character, he possessed, again in the words of Fr. Kelly, ‘ a gentlemanly nature, was held in high esteem and was always courteous in his dealings with others.’
Family was important to him and he always kept abreast of the important milestones in the lives of his siblings as well as nieces and nephews.
As Fr. Kelly remarked: ‘ We remember Tony’s faithfulness and the loyalty and devotion to his family and faith which he cherished so much.’
Following Mass in St. Mary’s Church, Julianstown, he was laid to rest in Moorechurch Cemetery, where his sister Sheila and brother Nicky are also interred.
With his death comes the realisation that yet another link with old Gormanston is gone.
But it will be whenever Butlins or Mosney are mentioned that the name of Tony McCullen will be remembered with fondness and gratitude.
May he rest in peace.