NURSE BYRNE HELPED MANY
MARY BYRNE, aged 83, of Chapel Hill, Baltinglass, passed away peacefully on December 13 at Baltinglass District Hospital.
A long serving prominent public figure in the greater Baltinglass community, Mary was the last member of an old, deeply rooted Baltinglass family, to still live in the town.
She is survived by her sister Catherine Tyndall (Arklow), her nephews John and Mark Tyndall, niece Ann Pierce and grand nephews and nieces Moibhi (Tyndall) (California), Ashling and Michael (Pierce) (Australia).
Born in Baltinglass, Mary attended the old convent school, followed by St Theresa’s secondary school, now known as the Fatima Hall.
She initially began training locally at a pharmacy, before attending Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Dún Laoghaire to pursue nursing.
There she found her calling and passion for life in nursing and upon graduation, was awarded the gold medal for nurse of the year in 1956.
Mary returned to work in Baltinglass hospital before taking up the position as district nurse, a role she served loyally with full commitment for decades up to her retirement.
Mary, more commonly referred to as Nurse Byrne, was known to be always on call for her patients in their times of need, both day and night. Mary’s grandfather, the highly respected GAA figure Matt Byrne – often referred to as the ‘Grand Old Man of the GAA’ – and her father ‘ Young Matt’ were local school teachers in the old boys’ school. Matt for many years served as a Wicklow GAA club officer. The O’Byrne Cup was named in Matt’s memory and still competed for annually today.
Mary followed passionately the family GAA tradition and for many years attended county and especially local Baltinglass games.
Mary was also member of the Fine Gael party for many years, canvassing vigorously at county and national elections and a regular figure present at Fine Gael events.
Mary established two successful charities, the first more than forty years ago to collect at Christmas time for families in need from local business and private people.
Additionally, Mary was one of the founders of the ‘Daffodil Day’ in Baltinglass and supported the event up to as recent as three years ago, before she was unable to continue due to poor health.
Mary was laid to rest on Friday, December 17, 2016 in the teachers’ corner of Baltinglass graveyard, among her loved ones, and within a stone’s throw of the family home on Chapel Hill.
A month’s mind mass will be held in Mary’s memory at 6 p.m. on January 14 at St Joseph’s Church in Baltinglass.