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Mossy Devlin R.I.P.
It is with great sadness that we record the death of retired Garda, Mossy Devlin, Emy, Emyvale, which occurred on Saturday, September 19th. 2009 in Cavan General Hospital. On the previous Sunday, Mossy suffered a major brain haemorrhage in his home. He was transferred to Cavan General Hospital but there was nothing they could do. His family and many of his wide circle of friends were at his bedside until he passed away peacefully. There was a great outpouring of concern when reports of his sickness circulated and a special Mass was held in the Oratory in Emyvale to pray for him. This concern changed to grief, sadness and mourning when his death was announced on Saturday evening.
His remains were brought to his home and crowds from all over the country visited to pay their respects and offer their condolences. It was an indication of the high esteem in which he was held by people of all walks of life and all age groups.
On Tuesday, Sept 22nd, his remains were brought to St. Mary’s Church, Glennan, Glaslough, for Requiem Mass at 12 noon. The cortege took the route through the village of Emyvale and stopped for a moment of respect at Emyvale Garda Station, where Mossy had served as a member of the Garda Síochána from 1972 until his retirement in 2001. A big number of organisations were represented by Guards of Honour leading to the Church, which was unable to cater for the huge crowd in attendance for the Requiem Mass, which was celebrated by Fr. Sean Nolan, PP Truagh and a close family friend. He was assisted by Fr. Hubert Martin, PP Donagh and also Fr. Michael Brennan, a life-long friend of the families from Gort, Co. Galway.
Family members participated in all aspects of the liturgy and hymns and church music were provided by the choir, which was an amalgamation of Choirs from churches of all denominations in North Monaghan. Organist was Ms. Mary O’Donnell and psalmist was Ms. Patricia McCarron. Instrumental music during the ceremony was performed by Orla McCormack and by Tony Cannon and Ronnie Griffiths, which added greatly to the solemnity of the occasion.
After Mass the cortege, taking the route past his home, went to St. Patrick’s Church, Corracrin, for the burial service. There, after interment, Genie McKenna sang Mossy’s favourite song, ‘Galway Bay’.
Mossy was born, reared and educated in Gort, Co. Galway, and when he finished his education he worked for a local Veterinary Surgeon, Mark Scully, for ten years. He then joined the Garda Síochána in 1972. This event could be described as an historic occasion as he was accompanied into the force that day by two other young men from the same street in Gort, Patrick Counihan and Brian Brennan.
His first posting on ‘Passing Out’ was to Emyvale and very soon he became a fully integrated member of the community there. Indeed, as was referred to by Fr. Nolan in his homily, Mossy Devlin developed ‘Community Policing’ long before anyone thought of the concept. He was a member of the community, first and foremost, and achieved the objectives of the Garda Síochána by applying ‘the spirit of the law’ as opposed to ‘the letter of the law’. His form of policing had a tremendous influence on the quality of life in the region and his actions and methods of dealing with situations achieved more than any court of law could accomplish.
This scribe was told the story that, at a Policing Conference between high ranking officials from the RUC and the Garda in the early days of the ‘Peace Process’, a senior politician in Northern Ireland said that the police in Northern Ireland should strive to reach the level of community acceptance that he witnessed in a wee place called Emyvale the previous Saturday. He was passing through on his way to a Rugby game in Dublin and saw a member of the Garda Síochána sitting on a summer seat on the Main Street between two senior citizen local ladies and they were chatting away. There is no doubt but that it was Mossy Devlin he saw.
Mossy had opportunities to move away from North Monaghan and to gain promotion in the Garda but he was content here and decided to stay. In 1976 he married Mary, nee Counihan, also from Gort, and a sister to Patrick, with whom he joined the force in 72. She had qualified as a teacher and came to Ballyoisin in 1974. They have four children – David, Jane, Sarah and Gregory. David is married in the USA to Susan and they have a daughter, Lillian.
Due to his involvement in community activity and his warmth and friendly manner, Mossy became a highly respected individual to all age groups in the area. He made friends very easily and it was very difficult, nay impossible, to ‘fall out’ with him as he could disarm anyone with his wit and humour.
Mossy was a member of Emyvale Community Council and played a very active role in the organisation and administration of Emyvale Leisure Centre. He was a cherished member who contributed to decisions, was always very practical and realistic and he could lighten the mood when it was required. Mossy assisted many other local organisations in a quiet unassuming manner and was always available when there was work to be done and when there were celebrations to be held.
He was one of the founder members of the Christmas Day Swim at Emy Lake and for 35 years he never missed this event except, we believe, one year. He was one of the sponsored swimmers again last year. The sponsorship raised for the swim was always for a local charity and Mossy was usually the person with the largest amount in sponsorship. The total he raised goes into thousands but he never claimed any credit for his good works. He also raised big sums for other needy and necessary causes and contributed to the development and success of other ventures but never sought public acclaim. He liked to remain in the background except when he was entertaining at a party when he became a ‘flamboyant live wire’ with one of his many party pieces.
Mossy was a very good singer and loved his involvement with the Donagh Parish choir and sang with them at Sunday Masses in St. Mary’s, Glennan, and at other special events.
Mossy was also a great sportsman. In his early days he played Hurling for his native Gort and had the distinguished honour of playing at minor, U21, intermediate and senior level for his beloved county of Galway. He was playing at full-forward for Galway in the League Final against Dublin in 1969, but they lost that game. Locals in Gort would remember Mossy continuously practicing his hurling skills against the front wall of his home. He always carried his Hurling Stick with him.
Hurling was his passion though he also started a Basketball team in Gort. When he came to Emyvale he soon had a hurling section in Emyvale GFC and they reached the county final in 1974. The team was made up mainly of members of the Garda, as there were about 40 Garda stationed in Emyvale at the time, many of whom came from hurling counties. There were some locals involved too, like Michael McQuaid, John Morgan, Francie McQuaid, Fr. Coleman and Brian McCarron.
Mossy was a keen golfer and represented Rossmore Club in many competitions. He enjoyed his game and the competition but gave it up when he retired as a Garda, partly due to a problem with his hip. Since his retirement he used his free time to get involved in a wider community by attending and participating in programmes organised by the Blackwater Learning Centre at Ballyoisin, especially those of a Cross-Border Cross Community nature. Indeed he became as well known in Aughnacloy as he was in Emyvale. He loved to see progress and was very encouraging to those who were trying to bring benefits to others and was quick to offer his help when needed.
Mossy was a wonderful character and loved fun and laughter. Anyone, who knew Mossy, can recall many occasions of laughter and joy. Since his demise countless stories have been told of his adventures, his exploits and his sayings. He was also a good listener and many times he gave a welcome sympathetic ear to people with problems. He laughed with people and cried with and for people. Many have shed a tear at his passing, as his warmth and friendship touched so many, all of whom he knew by name and all of whom will miss him.
Most tears will be shed by his loving family of Mary, his wife, and children - Jane, Sarah, David and Gregory; his daughter-in-law, Susan; his grand-daughter, Lillian; and his brother Sean and brother-in-law Patrick. We offer our sincere sympathies to them and to his relatives and very wide circle of friends. May God grant him eternal rest and reward him for his goodness, while he was among us.