Dingle loses a great character with death of Timmy Kelliher
DINGLE lost a rare old character with the death last Wednesday of Timmy Kelliher from Milltown, who was known by everybody and brought a smile wherever he went.
Timmy was a particularly sociable man who would chat away for hours with anybody who cared to join him, preferably at the counter in Curran’s or maybe McCarthy’s or Foxy John’s. He had a great interest in people, regardless of their age, who they were, or where they came from. He saw all people as equal, but he didn’t have much time for people who had notions about themselves, and this is how he came to have a memorable part in the lore surrounding ‘Ryan’s Daughter’.
During the time the film was being shot in the late 1960s Timmy was driving cattle near Milltown one morning when an open top limousine screeched to a halt and the irate driver, who was clearly under time pressure, demanded that he clear the road. Timmy completely ignored the order and carried on with his business because you can’t rush a herd of cattle, and besides he didn’t much like the demanding tone of voice.
This did nothing for the driver’s humour who again demanded “move your goddamn steers”, adding: “Do you know who I am; I’m Robert Mitchum.”
“I don’t give a f**k if you’re Robert Emmet,” came Timmy’s reply and it must have left an impression on Mitchum because that night he was in Ashe’s pub inquiring into the identity of Robert Emmet, who seemed to carry more weight than a Hollywood film star.
While fame and fortune made no impression on Timmy, horses were another matter altogether and along with his brother, Stevie, he owned several race horses over the years and in his earlier years he even raced as a jockey.
In 1955 he had a famous victory at Béal Bán Races after cycling from Milltown with his horse, Eileen Óg, tethered to his bicycle. When he arrived in Ballyferriter he slaked his thirst with a couple of pints in Larry Manning’s pub (now Tig an tSaorsigh) before proceeding to Béal Bán strand where he and Eileen Óg won their race. Afterwards he cycled back to Milltown with the horse in tow, milked the cows and then drove back out to Ballyferriter that
night to go to a dance, leaving his Ford Prefect car ‘parked’ in the middle of the road. Some time later Donie, the local Garda, came into the hall and told Timmy to move the car. For some reason Timmy didn’t take well to being told he was blocking the road and it seems that Donie, like Robert Mitchum, was told to f**k off for his troubles.
The same Ford Prefect was well known around Milltown where it was often and willingly pressed into service to
bring neighbours on essential trips. One of those neighbours, Maureen Lynch from Kilfountain, could even recall that the registration number was ZL 1520 when she phoned from Waterford this week to sympathise with Timmy’s relatives.
For most of his life Timmy was regarded by everybody in West Kerry and beyond as one half of ‘Timmy and Stevie’ – the latter being the younger brother he lived with in Milltown. The pair did everything together, but it was notable that they were never together in the pub. Instead, they would take up their station at opposite ends of the bar, each with his own company, outdoing each other in devilment and roguery and Timmy might even sing ‘Casey’s Hotel’, the famous John Street hostelry that, according to the rakish ballad, “had red bug and green bugs and some black and white and they ate poor Paddy Moriarty in the shilling-a-night”.
The pair followed no calendar except Dingle Races, which they kept as a fixed point in the year and measured all other events as happening either before or after the races. At this great annual gathering Timmy was a legend and he never missed a meeting in his life, even getting out of his hospital bed to attend the Races in 2019. (Dingle Races were cancelled in 2020 because of Covid-19).
For Timmy’s 80th birthday on St Patrick’s Day 2004 Stevie organized a party in Curran’s pub and so many people attended that Timmy would have been entitled to take the view that he was more popular than the national saint. He thought the party was such a good idea that he celebrated his birthday every year afterwards in Curran’s and his enthusiasm was undiminished on his 90th when he walked and hitch hiked into town after he lost patience waiting for a lift.
Stevie’s death in 2014 was a huge blow to Timmy but he put a brave face on his loss and carried on, helped every step of the way by his family who were a tremendous support. Eventually failing health left no option but to go into Dingle Hospital where he received great care from the staff up to his death last Wednesday, January 6, at the age of 95.
Timmy was predeceased by his brothers John and Stevie, his sisters Madge and Bob, his nephew John Browne (Dingle) and his niece Elizabeth Kelliher (England). He is survived by his much loved nieces Mai, Joan and Rita (Dingle), Theresa, Margaret and Pauline (England), nephews Tom and Ted, his nieces and nephews-in-law Camilla, Carmel, Tommy and Arthur, all his grand-nieces and grand-nephews, cousins, relatives and a circle of friends that reaches far and wide.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis