Heartbroken families say their goodbyes
LOCAL LADIES LAID TO REST AFTER COVID-19 BATTLES
‘PEOPLE don’t realise how serious this virus is. There is no real goodbye.’
The words of Martin Kehoe who lost his mother Eileen to Covid-19 cry out to be listened to, echoing the sentiments of other grieving families within our community this week, all of whom are appealing for people to stay safe and stay home.
Kathleen Kent’s family speak of the cruel way their beloved aunt was taken from them, her having battled illness for two years only to succumb to coronavirus. Mary Kate O’Donoghue’s family are also heartbroken and missing her ‘ loving smirk’.
CATHERINE (Kathleen) Kent was one of a kind, a character with a sense of devilment, fun and carefree abandon who endeared herself to people of all ages.
Her death from Covid-19 on April 18 cast a dark cloud over Arthurstown, where she lived up until recent times in a caravan at Duckalley near the docks.
Kathleen grew up in a house filled with children and noise. With seven children in the house, Kathleen learned from a young age to speak up for herself. She was a tomboy who loved nothing more than being out in nature.
Having attended Ballyhack NS, she worked in the St Louis Convent in Ramsgrange before moving to England, where she found employment in a biscuit factory.
She returned to Arthurstown and lived in the home place. She returned to work for the St Louis sisters, serving them breakfast each morning.
Her niece through marriage, Patsy said Kathleen was a real character: ‘She was cracked. She drank and smoke too much. She had a chair inside the old King’s Bay Inn and she used to meet up there with her old friend, Chris Murphy. All the young people knew her. She had a word for everybody.’
A devoted Man United fan, Kathleen loved watching matches and would often burn the midnight oil glued to the television watching some game.
She enjoyed the occasional flutter, always backing Ruby Walsh whenever he was racing.
Kathleen loved being around children, especially her relations.
‘She was the sort who marched to the beat of her own drum. She never cared about what anybody else thought about her. She never married but was always surrounded by children and loved her nieces and nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews dearly. The family she was reared with were like brothers and sisters to her. She was never without children in her life.’
Although someone who wasn’t shy by any means, Kathleen was private in her own way.
She lived on her own and was very comfortable in her own company.
Whenever anyone called to her caravan they saw smoke before they saw Kathleen. As Patsy recalled: ‘When she would open the door of the van, smoke would come first.’
When Kathleen moved to Cherry Grove Nursing Home in November 2017 she enjoyed spending time in her own company in the day room. She had been given a diagnosis of breast cancer the previous month, an illness she fought with great courage.
‘She had a tumour about 5cms in her and she bet it down to 1cm. She was remarkable and had little or no side effects. I visited her every second day and she had a constant stream of callers as some of the ladies in the village were exceptionally good to her.’
In an era when very few people send Christmas cards, Kathleen received 40.
When Patsy got the call from Cherry Grove stating that anyone with Covid-19 wouldn’t be transferred to hospital and wouldn’t be resuscitated, she feared the worst for Kathleen.
‘ That night I got a call that she was chesty and the next morning they rang to say they were starting her on fluids.’
Kathleen rallied over the following few days but the virus took her at 6 a.m. on Saturday, April 18.
‘She was an absolute fighter to the end,’ Patsy said.
Fr Brian Whelan celebrated mass for Kathleen in front of ten of her family and friends.
A regular mass goer – more by virtue of being coaxed into going by her sister than an innate faith – Kathleen was mourned by her family and friends in Ramsgrange.
‘She was brought through the village of Arthurstown and all the neighbours were out on the roadside. She would have loved that as she would have been queen of the village for the day. It was wicked sad for the burial with only ten of us there.’
Patsy said everyone has a fond, and in many cases funny memory of Kathleen.
She said the way Covid-19 took her was cruel and merciless.
‘It’s incredibly cruel. She fought so hard. She had Influenza A last year having got it at hospital. There aren’t too many at her age who’d survive that.
‘Her friendship will be sorely missed. She was so stubborn but also so generous. She was a divil, one of a kind.’
Kathleen’s nephew Martin said: ‘ They definitely broke the mould with Kathleen. She had a great sense of devilment and a great nature. She was her own woman. Her family were everything to her. She loved all the children in the family and showered them with presents every Christmas and Easter. She was a big character and everyone loved her, young and old. She played 31 in the pub with them and was a loyal [friend] to the last.’
Kathleen is survived by her brother, Michael and is sadly missed by her loving family Stessie, Mamie, Kay, Josie; sister in law Mary; nephew Martin; niece Mareae, grand nephews, grand nieces, relatives and friends.
May she Rest in Peace.
THEY DEFINITELY BROKE THE MOULD WITH KATHLEEN. SHE HAD A GREAT SENSE OF DIVILMENT AND A GREAT NATURE. SHE WAS HER OWN WOMAN