Emyvale Development Association © All Rights Reserved
Scairbh
Na
gCaorach
EMYVALE
Site sponsor for emyvale.net
Ellie McQuillan R.I.P.
It is with sadness that we report the death of Ellie McQuillan, Toneyfinnegan, Emyvale. She had been in failing health in recent months and passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family, at her residence, on Monday, January 11th 2010.
Ellie, nee Treanor, was born in 1916 in Knockcor, Tydavnet. She attended Edenmore National School and succeeded in getting an excellent Primary Cert in 1931, something she was very proud of and she retained the original certificate. Her subjects were Irish, English, Maths (arithmetic, algebra and geometry), History, Geography, Nature Study, Singing and Needlework. After leaving school she worked for a number of different families, assisting with the house work and helping to look after the young children. She spent time with the McMeel family at Drumgahan, the McMeel family at Killybrone, and the Greenan family at Greenans Cross. Her only mode of transport was the bicycle and she thought nothing of cycling to Greenans Cross and later to Monaghan every fortnight to purchase the necessities of life.
She met and married John McQuillan from down the road in Toneyfinnegan and they set up home there. This had been the McQuillan home for four generations at least. It was more than likely that they both met at a ceilihouse in some of the local houses or at a hop in a house where the gramophone was played to provide the music for dancing. However, because of the close proximity of the two families, both would have known each other from school and religious ceremonies as well.
Ellie became a dutiful wife and mother and they had six children – Nuala RIP, Elizabeth (Prunty, Threemilehouse), Sean, Patsy, Gerard and Eileen (McDonald, Tullyard, Emyvale). Sadly, Nuala, the first born, died at the age of two. John and Ellie worked the small holding but disaster struck in 1967, when John died very suddenly while working out in the field. It was a terrible shock for the entire family and community and a severe blow to Ellie. However she put her trust in the Lord and carried on the farm work and assisted her family through their schooling and into the work place. Times were tough and nothing was very plentiful but, as Fr. Martin stated in his Homily at her Requiem Mass, - ‘Ellie never wanted anything more than what she needed’.
She was a very hard-working industrious person and produced much of the food required for the home. As a farmer she had potatoes and vegetables growing and fruit in abundance to make jams and jellies. She baked her bread and churned the milk for butter. Indeed her family recalled the churning and the monotony of standing bashing the churn up and down at a steady speed, while she checked its progress from time to time and added scalding water as required. She was innovative before her time in using spices and herbs to produce sauces and gravies for the dinner and she herself loved spicy food. Her needlework classes at school were used to great effect and she could mend, invisibly almost, any garment needing repair and this would extend the life of the item rather than discard it. Her thrifty ways, so much part of her generation, meant that, in the words of Fr. Martin, – Ellie never allowed herself to get caught up in the rampant consumerism of the so called Celtic Tiger. She herself was always impeccably dressed and was very attentive to the manner in which she presented herself.
She was a life-long Pioneer and always advised her family and others not to begin drinking until they were old enough to know how to handle it or better still not to begin at all.
Ellie was very self-sufficient but her self-sufficiency came, not only from need, but from a closeness with nature and a love of the earth and its produce. She got a great satisfaction and loved growing food and flowers. From early in her marriage she had her garden plot beside the house and there was never a year that it was not cultivated, sown and harvested with a wonderful yield of potatoes and vegetables. Last year her potatoes were as good as those taken from the plot the first year. When John passed away there was no tractor on the farm but the boys bought a TVO Ferguson and used it to do the heavy work around the farm. However Ellie was always of the opinion that when the garden was dug by hand with the spade, moulded with the grape, farmyard manure added and drilled with the shovel – then it was done properly. The machinery did not do the same job.
For her 80th Birthday her grandchildren together presented her with a greenhouse and she loved working in it. She would spend hours planting, transplanting, and growing her tomatoes. This facility also gave her the chance to try new and different types of vegetable and flower. Until a few months ago she spent time in it daily and when she found it difficult she enlisted the help of one of her grandchildren, who became her hands, as it were, carrying out the tasks as she instructed.
Ellie was seldom idle and she also made sure that her family were constantly busy too. She had a wonderful ‘knack’ of starting a job, which some of the family would then relieve her of and do it for her, while she moved on to do something else.
Though times were tough Ellie was never one to complain but carried on with a smile for everyone. She shared what she had with others and neighbours can testify to her generosity; kindness and goodness – indeed no one will ever know the full extent of her goodness but she would be first to recall the goodness of neighbours to her.
As her family moved on and established their own independence Ellie’s life became somewhat easier and she was able and had time to get greater enjoyment out of the simple things in life. She loved to visit neighbours and have them call with her. The Thursday visit to Emyvale Leisure Centre for the Senior Citizens get together was a highlight of the week.
There she met with and enjoyed the company of so many of her age group and younger and always came home refreshed from the experience. She loved to go to the Bingo in Emyvale and it was not so much the hope of winning but the opportunity to meet people, exchange news and have a laugh which attracted her to it. She also loved going on outings organised in the region and was always quick to accept an invitation for a trip anywhere and very often she took one of the grandchildren with her. She also enjoyed a spin in the car when any member of her family was going anywhere and she would look at the countryside and remark on changes or whatever.
Her family were her pride and joy and she checked in with them daily to see how they were and what they were doing. That concern and interest extended to her grandchildren when they came along and she was very proud and delighted to have her great grandchildren around her. She had 30 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.
In all her dealings, in every aspect of her life and on a daily basis her faith and religion was of paramount importance. Daily prayer and the Rosary was a must and a blessing with Holy Water at the door on the way out. It was her faith which helped her accept many trials and tough times and when the end approached Fr. Martin described it ‘as Pope John XX111 himself said – she had her bags packed and ready to go when called’. He said of her that she was a straightforward, genuinely happy person who lived a life of ripeness and truthfulness and clung to life with determination but in the end death came softly to her. Her family have many wonderful moments to look back on and recall and they will treasure fragments of beautiful memories forever and that the same faith, lived by Ellie, will now provide them with the scaffolding necessary to help them cope with the loss.
The esteem with which Ellie was held in the community was demonstrated by the huge numbers who called to the house to offer condolences and the wonderful support given by neighbours and friends. A huge crowd attended the removal of the remains to St. Patrick’s Church, Corracrin, on Tuesday evening and the Church was filled to overflowing on Wednesday morning for the Requiem Mass. Chief Celebrant was Fr. Hubert Martin assisted by Fr. Tom Finnegan, Donaghmoyne, Fr. Sean Clerkin, Tydavnet and Fr. Joe McCluskey, Threemilehouse. Other members of the clergy attended in the congregation. All sections of the local and neighbouring communities were represented. Family members are very involved in various community organisations and these were represented in the attendance as well. Sacred music and hymns were provided by members of local choirs and psalmist was Amelia McCormack, and members of Ellie’s family participated in all aspects of the Liturgy. Interment took place in the adjoining cemetery after Mass.
We offer our sincere sympathies to Ellie’s children - Elizabeth, Sean, Patsy, Gerard, and Eileen; to her sister, Bridget; to her sons-in-law and daughters-in-law; to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren; to her nephews and nieces; to all her relatives and to her wide circle of friends. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam naofa.