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Michael McPartlan RIP
(‘Mick the Thatcher’)
It was with deep sadness that the Drumkeeran community heard on Thursday, 9th May,
of
the death of one of its oldest and best known characters,
Michael McPartlan,
Derrynahinch,
Drumkeeran.
Michael, who was better known in the locality as ‘Mick the Thatcher’,
died peacefully
in St Phelim’s Nursing Home, Dromahair.
Mick was born in November 1918,
the son of Charles and Kate McPartlan, of Greaghnagloch,
Drumkeeran.
He, with his sisters Mary and Sarah and his brother Paddy,
grew up on the
small family farm.
While Mary and Sarah were to move away from home,
Mary to Dublin
and Sarah to New York,
Mick and Paddy stayed in the locality, working as labourers,
helping
on local farms, making hay, cutting hedges, clearing drains, and saving turf.
For a number of years Mick worked on a farm near Enniskillen.
Every Sunday he came
home to Greaghnagloch.
He cycled all that way home and, later in the day, he cycled
all the way back.
Throughout his life, the bicycle was his mode of transport.
But the most of his working days were around Drumkeeran.
He was the kind of man who
was always working. He enjoyed his work.
Everything he did was done with a certain
skill, and a certain precision.
And that applied in a special way to the skill that
he made his own,
the skill highlighted in the name by which he became known to all;
Mick the Thatcher.
For he was a fine thatcher and would have worked at the thatching
of
many houses in the area.
Mick enjoyed the company of other people.
He enjoyed the chat and the stories. He
enjoyed the laughter and the fun.
And he enjoyed it even better if there was a bit
of music going on.
He was a keen musician and he was only delighted, when the opportunity
arose,
to play a couple of tunes on the fiddle.
And add to that the occasional pint
and we can capture
something of the social life of Michael McPartlan.
In 2005 Mick
made it on to the front pages the national newspapers.
It was the day of the official
opening of the Rowantree Offices in Main St.
Mick was sitting outside one of the local
pubs with a pnt in his hand.
Next day his photograph appeared in the two national
newspapers.
Mick was given even more prominence than the special guest on the day, John Hume.
Michael was also a man of faith and prayer.
He was a regular at Sunday Mass,
even when
his mobility became quite limited.
During his working days he would always stop his work and say his prayers
as soon
as he heard the Angelus bell.
He never went to the bed without saying his Rosary.
The last few years were not easy for Mick
as his mobility became more and more limited.
Over
the last few years he spent time in Our Lady’s Hospital in Manorhamilton
before becoming
resident in Aras Bhride, Drumkeeran.
His final months were spent in St Phelim’s Nursing
Home in Dromahair.
It was there that he died on Thursday evening, 9th May.
His funeral Mass was attended by a large crowd of neighbours and friends
and by members
of his extended family, his nephews and nieces
and his many cousins.
The Funeral Mass was held on Saturday, 11th May.
After the Mass, Mick was laid to rest in the family plot in Drumkeeran Cemetery.