Loving couple Ned and Brigid Mary were big fans of the GAA
KILMUCKRIDGE couple Edward (Ned) and Brigid Mary Hammel sadly passed away recently just five weeks apart.
Ned was born in Boston, USA in 1925, but he moved to Kilmuckridge with his family when he was just eight-years old. He thought it was a wonderful adventure.
He had a happy childhood in Wexford and was a talented hurler. Ned moved back to Boston in his twenties, where there was more opportunities for work.
He continued to play hurling in the USA, often travelling up and down the east coast for matches while working as a carpenter. He played for Galway, which was his fathers home county, as there was not enough from Wexford to make a team.
Brigid Mary was born in Gobbinstown, New Ross in 1935, and was the eldest of her family. She emigrated to Boston in her early twenties, where she lived with her uncle Moses Gahan and his wife Brigid. She worked happily there making friends that she kept in touch with all her life.
Ned and Brigid Mary met in Boston at an Irish dance, and were introduced to each other because they were both from Wexford. They married in 1958 and happily settled in Boston.
They made a trip home to Ireland with their little daughter Patricia. On the visit, Ned’s father Joseph asked him to come home and take over the farm. It was a big move but they made it and moved back in 1961.
Farming in the 1960s was challenging but they made a go of it, embracing new technology along the way from milking machinery and milk cooling systems. They were the first people in the parish to use a baler.
A family of three girls and five boys made life busy and interesting. The couple had a lifelong interest in all things GAA with their seats booked in front of the television for all matches and visitors were told to come at half time or between matches. Then the Sunday Game had to be watched to get the expert analysis and they did not always agree with it.
A strong community spirit inspired Ned and Mary to be very involved and supportive of their local area. They were instrumental in getting a new school built in Kilmuckridge.
Ned was on a committee with a group of local men who organised the water scheme and in their long life in Kilmuckridge they helped to update the Church twice and rebuild the priest’s house.
Ned was very proud to be a farmer representative in Waterford Co Op for many years and served on the board of the Co Op. He was able to do all these things because he had Mary’s full support.
Ned and Mary are survived by their children Patricia, Eilish, Eamonn, John, Maureen, Brian, Rory and Conor, their spouses and grandchildren who they doted on, Ned’s brother Fred, Brigid’s brothers Jim, Tom, Paddy and sisters Anne and Lizzy and their extended family and friends.