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John McNulty RIP
The death has taken place of John McNulty, Shivdillagh.
John died suddenly in his home on Wednesday evening, 22nd August.
Born in Shivdillagh in 1926, John was the oldest of the family of four children of William and Bridget McNulty.
After leaving Shivdillagh National School John worked on the family farm.
He also
worked on the local roads for the Rural Improvement Scheme.
In his day he worked on
the new road from Tarmon to Drumkeeran
and on the road from Crown’s Bridge to Creevelea
Church.
John’s first love was farming.
He was a great judge of cattle and at one time kept
a heard of up to 50 cattle,
a large herd by the standards of the time.
He continuously
studied the AI books to make sure that the strains
he bought were of the highest quality.
He
was still keeping a small herd up to the time of his death.
Apart from family weddings,
the only time he travelled away from home
was to go to the ploughing championships
or to buy farm machinery.
Farming was his life.
John was a popular and highly regarded member of the community.
Skilled at whatever he turned his hand to,
John was always available to give a helping
hand to his neighbours and friends.
Whether it was digging drains, building sheds
or helping with the calving,
John was always ready to help out in any way he could.
John also enjoyed the company of other people.
He had the great ability to mix with
young and old alike and to converse with people on any topic.
He was an avid reader
of the Leitrim Observer and of the Farmer’s Journal,
and he kept himself up-
He also enjoyed going for a drink with his friends
on Sunday nights
and he had a particular fondness for the card games, especially the
games of Twenty-
John McNulty was a big man with a big heart and a big smile.
A strong man, he never
shied away from hard work.
His size and his strength meant that he was a major asset
to the local Tug-
The warmth of his personality and his witty sense of
humour endeared him to friend and stranger alike.
John never had a car. The bicycle and the tractor were his only means of transport.
That’s
not to imply that John McNulty wasn’t at ease with modern technology. Far from it.
John
had CCTV recently installed in his cowshed so that he could keep an eye on the cattle
from
the comfort of his own house.
In that sense, John was always young at heart.
Never having married, John had a particular fondness for his all nephews and nieces.
He
treated them as though they were his own children and, regardless of the generation
gap,
John was quite at ease in their company, and they in his.
Sunday Mass and regular Confession were cornerstone of John’s deep faith.
While perhaps
not outwardly pious, John was a man of prayer.
He never went anywhere without his
Rosary beads.
He is survived by this sisters Peggy and Mary,
by his nephews and nieces
and by the
extended family.
Following the Funeral Mass on Saturday
John was laid to rest in the family plot in
Aughaloughy Cemetery.