Much-loved pioneer of the Kerry skies and classic car fan PJ is widely mourned
‘ THOSE magnificent men in their flying machines’ might well have been a phrase written for the late Liscahane native PJ O’Riordan, who died on Tuesday following a long battle with illness.
For Mr O’Riordan was among the first to use the airstrip at Farranfore as the nascent Kerry Airport came into being all those years ago.
He was also one of the foremost members of the Kerry Vintage Rally Club, in fact serving as its President for 25 years as he and his many friends in the world of classic cars celebrated their passion to the benefit of all in the community over the decades.
Meanwhile, he was also a prominent member of Probus, helping to organise the association’s many activities in the greater Tralee area over the years, and captain at Ardfert Golf Club – to name two of his other passions.
Mr O’Riordan was besotted with all things mechanical from an early age and trained as a mechanic initially, before embarking on a career that would see him working in the Lombard and Ulster Bank in Tralee for years.
He married his beloved Noreen and together the couple raised their children Deirdre, Áine and Pádraig at the home in Liscahane. He was a devoted family man above all else and took great delight in his grandchildren in more recent years – David, Laura, Sophie, Kieran and Donnacha.
Mechanised flight was one of his greatest passions in his leisure time and he was one of the first to get involved in gliding out at the airstrip in Farranfore – even importing a big American car to two the gliders aloft at one point. He went on to fly his own Cessna there two and had a share in an even bigger four-seater as he became a skilled pilot.
Classic cars were, of course, his other deep passion and the amount of friends he made in the Club and sister organisations over the years attested to the esteem in which he was held.
Mr O’Riordan is also survived by his brother Seán, sisters Bride, Mary, Patricia and Kay, son-inlaw Brian, granddaughter-in-law Zara, relatives. His Funeral Mass was to take place privately, with a Memorial Mass to be celebrated at a later date.