Stalwart of the community
EVELYN CULLEN (née Ryan) late of Coolcotts, Wexford, was born on January 3, 1935, in Coolteen, Barntown, to Mike and Mollie Ryan (née Shortle).
The ninth child in a family of 14, namely Pierce, Martin, John, Kate, Ann, Oliver and the late Michael, Jim (her twin), Alice, Betty, Stan, Beatrice and John, Evelyn was reared in Coolteen and then Old Boley and later Tomcoole.
Evelyn attended primary school initially in Glynn and had many stories of the family travelling there by pony and trap. She later went to primary school in Mercy School in Wexford. Her secondary school education was in Loreto Abbey, Gorey, as a boarder and following her intermediate certificate, she trained as a nurse in St Vincent’s Hospital, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin and graduated as a state registered nurse in 1955. Evelyn cared for her elderly uncle Jack and aunts Lizzie and Nellie at Tomcoole, Taghmon.
The Ryans of Tomcoole were a deeply political family and had been very involved in the 1916 Rising. Her aunt Phyllis Ryan married Sean T O’Kelly who was President of Ireland. Evelyn would often help Phyllis host events in Aras an Uachtarain. Following the death of her parents, Phyllis was her guardian during these years.
She also worked in Dr. Cuddigan’s Nursing Home in Enniscorthy, living above a chip shop in the town whilst working there. Evelyn dated M.J. Cullen and in 1956 they were pregnant ‘out of wedlock’. In an attempt to avoid bringing disgrace on the family, Evelyn without telling anyone except MJ, moved to Halifax, England.T
They had a daughter Cath Staincliffe (named Mary Lucia Ryan) who Evelyn cared for at St. Margaret’s Home in Leeds for seven weeks until the baby was placed for adoption with David and Margaret Staincliffe in Bradford, England.
Evelyn and M.J. got engaged on August 17, 1959 and they married on September 5, 1960, in University Church in Dublin and subsequently had seven more children: Padraig, Sarah, Ian, Jim, Yvonne, Oonagh and Stan.
They lived in Adamstown in a house MJ’s mother had won in a Sunday Press competition. She joined the ICA when she married to make friends in her new home and quickly became immersed in the community. Although busy rearing her own children, working on the farm and building a fine garden, she always found time to help anyone who needed nursing care in Adamstown and gave huge support to her own sisters and their families who would spend entire summers with her in Adamstown.
She returned to work in Ely Hospital when her youngest child started school and loved her years of looking after the patients there. Following the sudden and untimely deaths of her beloved Fr Jim, her twin, and MJ in 1985, she remained in Adamstown for three years and then reluctantly sold the farm and moved into Coolcotts where she forged a new life for herself and immersed herself in the church community in Clonard and new activities of bridge and golf.
Evelyn made many new friends whom she treasured dearly. She had a great sense of community and was often to be seen tending and maintaining pathways and the walkway in the estate. Her involvement in the making of a beautiful textile wallhanging of St Brigid in Clonard Church, under the guidance of artist Anne Heffernan, brought her together with other women with similar interests and deepened her love of patchwork.
Evelyn and Cath were reunited in person on September 27, 1997, having exchanged letters for almost a year. Their story was told by the RTE television documentary Finding Cath for the series Would You Believe. It also featured in the print media and on RTE Radio 1 when they were interviewed by Brenda Power.
Evelyn spent the past few years battling with motor neurone disease. She fulfilled her desire to remain in her own house cared for by her family with support from HSE, MNDA Home Instead and Bluebird Care. She bore her illness with dignity and with her irrepressible positivity.
She was a practical, no-nonsense woman who just got on with the challenge presented to her despite being confined to bed for 14 months. Daily Mass and Rosary on Clonard Radio was a source of great solace and comfort to her, when she could no longer attend in person. She delighted in the experiences and achievements of her eight children, 19 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren and loved them all bringing their world in to her. Ar dheis De go raibh a h-anam.