A leader who was a giant to Tralee town
MY overriding impression of Seamus is that of a man who was always very comfortable in his own skin and who obviously had an unconscious wealth of information to draw on and impart about life and living.
There was a great sense of silent presence about him and I never felt that I needed to talk much in his company because I always wanted to hear what he had to say. People wanted to hear him talk because he had so much to say, but ironically he was a fantastic listener and he always encouraged others to talk first.
Unfortunately I knew him for too short a period and in that time he was battling his illness. The dignity with which he bore that illness was incredible and you wouldn’t have known he was sick unless he told you. Through it all, in another mark of the man, he continued to write his My Town page for the Tralee edition of The Kerryman and it had a huge following. We learned exactly how popular it was on the occasions he was unable to write, when we were inundated with enquiries as to when it would return.
He was a giant in the town. The degree to which he took to life here was amazing for somebody from outside and his contribution to so many organisations outside of The Kerryman was a real testament to the fact that Seamus was not a follower, but a leader. It might be a cliché, but when someone like that goes there is a genuine void left behind them.
We have lost an incredible former editor and colleague and he will be very sorely missed in the Tralee edition of The Kerryman.