Tributes paid to well-known local writer and historian
MÁIRE Mac Suibhne was laid to rest on Monday after the driving force behind the Lee Valley Outlook and noted local historian passed away on Saturday.
Wife of photographer Seán Mac Suibhne and mother to Mícheál, Séamus, Neans and Ella, the former teacher had been ill for a number of months.
Before her funeral Mass on Monday, tributes were paid to Máire Mac Suibhne at the monthly meeting of Macroom Municipal District Council.
Newly elected Council chairman Martin Coughlan said: “Máire Mac Suibhne was a fantastic community worker in the town of Macroom and over the years she had been a huge contributor to the Lee Valley Outlook.
“In her columns she always wrote about the town, always asked questions about the Briery Gap and where it was at and unfortunately she won’t be around to see it..”
Cllr Gobnait Moynihan described Máire as a woman who had done a great deal for Macroom and had a deep love of the Irish language.
Other councillors associated themselves with the remarks made by Cllrs Coughlan and Moynihan at the meeting.
At her Funeral Mass in St Colman’s Church, celebrated by her friend, An tAthair Dónal Ó Briain from Baile Mhúirne, Cór Chúil Aodha led by Peadar Ó Riada sang the hymns.
Máire had been a regular attendee at Mass in Cúil Aodha and other Gaeltacht events such as Dámh Scoil Mhúscraí, the annual poetry court.
During the COVID-19 lock-down, when she could not attend mass, she had tuned in to the Facebook live broadcasts of the Mass as Gaeilge from Cúil Aodha.
In an eloquent eulogy, Neans Mac Suibhne, her daughter, said that the Irish phrase, ‘ tá sí imithe ar shlí na fírinne’ -the literal meaning of which is “She is gone on the way of the truth” - was a fitting phrase to describe where her mother had now gone. “We know she will be very much at home there,” she said.
“Mam started out as principal in her local primary school [Barrahaurin National School in Donoughmore] before going on to Dromleigh where she spent the rest of her teaching career.
“She shared with generations of pupils there her love of history, her passion for the Irish language, her interest in music and her thirst for knowledge and adventure.
“Many of her former pupils posted lovely messages on RIP. ie in the past days, commenting on her kindness, her incredible intellect, her compassion and her understanding.”
Máire and Seán served 17 years as the editor and photographic editor respectively of the Lee Valley Outlook.
Máire has published Famine in Muskerry - An Drochshaol, an account of the famine locally and the proceeds of that book went to support the development of Bealick Mill as a Famine Museum.
Shortly after that, she helped Seán publish a book of photographs, the Denis Dineen Photographic
Collection, the proceeds of which went to Macroom’s Senior Citizens Group.
A new book to be published shortly, Múscraí Through The MacSuibhne Lens, a collection of Seán Mac Suibhne’s photographs from 1981 to 1989, will also bear the hallmark of Máire Mac Suibhne’s contribution. Sadly she will not be around to see the latest publication.
“Mam’s wishes are that this new book will help finance the widening of a pathway from the riverbank below Macroom Bridge over as far as the Fairy Garden. Mam wants permanent seating introduced and a memorial to the men, women and children who perished there when they were turned away from the workhouse. We will get this project over the line. It was one of Mam’s final wishes. It will be her legacy.
“Both Mam and Dad did everything they could possibly do over the years to promote Macroom as a great place to live, to work and to raise a family. Their tireless voluntary contributions make us feel so, so proud.”