John McNabola - a man “hallmarked by humility”
MOURNERS at the funeral of John McNabola were told he was a man “hallmarked by humility,” a man whose door was always open to every citizen of Sligo town. Canon Niall Ahearne, PP Strandhill, told the large numbers of people who gathered for Mass of the Resurrection at Saint Patrick’s Church, Strandhil on Monday that Mr McNabola was “our ambassador”. He underlined his huge contribution over 30 years as a senior official and the many clever initiatives such as town twinnings with Talahaisse, Crozon and Kempton.
Fr Ahearne said John regarded it as a privilege to be a public servant.
He welcomed Cllr Declan Bree, Mayor of Sligo and Dorothy Clarke, representing the Chief Executive of Sligo County Council Martin Lydon, Cmdt Gannon, 6th Inf Battalion and all public representatives present. During his homily Canon Ahearne said John was “in the words of Thomas Moore ‘the King’s good servant, but God’s first’ because his faith permeated every thought and action of his life and impacted on all his relationships.
“John was a man hallmarked by humility, he lived a very simple lifestyle and said he wanted a very simple funeral liturgy,” he said. “We are told some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them, but the only greatness that John would lay claim to was the privilege of being a public servant.
“Those two words and all their connotations he inhabited in his professional life and lived quietly and lovingly in his domestic life.
“He loved everything that was tradition of his country and his home place. He loved his language, it was the first language he would have spoken to his children.
“He loved Gaelic games, place names. His great love was Leitrim and his wonderful love was Sligo.”
Referring to the FCA (Reserve Defence Forces) Guard of Honour formed in his honour, he said it helped to illustrate how he loved his nation and service.
He recalled his first profession was as a garda when he received the Recruit of the Year Award, then Leitrim County Council and then to Sligo and then 30 years as a public servant as town clerk, until he retired.
He said John was a great lover of the law, “not as prohibitive, but as facilitating the good order of society and of township. He continued his professional studies at the Institute of Public Administration both in Constitutional Law and Local Government Law so he would be more competent than ever in his Office. “He had extraordinary respect for the Office of the Council, cherishing the order of democracy for any good order of society,” he said. Canon Ahearne said John’s door was open to every citizen of the town. He shunned officialdom and he knew everybody by name and had time for conversation and understanding for where everybody stood in their journey of life.
“We all know how good a raconteur he was, conversationalist, loving the characters, but alongside, balancing that, he was the essence of discretion. He had a powerful work ethic. He was never boastful or conceited.
“We know he loved to showcase Sligo. He was responsible for the town twinning with Talahaisse, Crozon and Kempton.
“In his own quiet way, he was ambassador.
“But underlining it all he was a parishioner of this parish.
“He delighted in the many people who received the Freedom of Sligo City, but none more so than Mother Theresa.
“He had the pen with which she signed her name, one that he often used. A pen of public office must always be used in the service of the poor.”
Canon Ahearne recalled how John always said he would retire at 60 and he did. “These last 15 years gave him time for his profound interest in history, particularly local history.” He told John’s family: “The noblest attribute of the inheritance he gives you, his children, is that great reservoir of faith which I no doubt you will dip into as you move on in your lives, influenced by his steady hand.
“John was in many ways a bridge builder, and he knew that the bridge ultimately was our from earth to heaven. He was a diplomat. He was an honest broker.
“He was, in the words of Deuteronomy, a man whose eye did not grow dim. He had the quietude of a gentle visionary.
“He had a steady gaze, a gaze to know that ultimately, we must all see the tops of the towers of the true city, Jerusalem.”
John is sadly missed by his wife, Maisie, children Ailbhe, Aonghus, Áine, Neasa and Cian, cherished grandchildren Ethan, Julia, Orla, Maeve and Sammy, sister Moira, brothers Seamus and Mickey, daughters-in-law Tamara and Denise, sons-in-law Mike and Craig, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives, neighbours and many friends.
May he rest in peace.