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Patrick (Packie) McPartlan RIP
The death has taken place of
Patrick (Packie) McPartlan,
Derrycullinan, Drumkeeran.
Packie died in Sligo Regional Hospital
on Friday, 5 June,
after a brief illness.
Patrick Joseph (Packie) McPartlan was born on 10th April 1956.
He was the second of
the six children born to Betty and Tommy McPartlan, Camalth.
The family later moved
to Litter.
When he left school, Packie worked as a builder.
He also spent a short while working
in the mines,
but his first love was for the land and for the building trade.
He worked
in Leeds for a few years before he returned to Drumkeeran
and started working as a
tradesman with Leitrim Co Council.
He continued to work in that job until he fell
ill in the last week of May.
On 27 Oct 1984, Packie married Margaret McPartlan, a native of Arigna.
The couple
settled in Derrycullinan and,
over the following years, they built a home for themselves
and
for their two sons, Patrick and Thomas.
Packie was the kind of man who always did things to the best of his ability.
With
him there were no half-
This was especially true in his family life.
There
was nothing he wouldn’t do for Margaret and the boys.
He was always keen to see the
boys do well,
whether it be in their studies or on the football field.
He was totally
dedicated to his wife Margaret.
He loved to help her around the house as much as he
could,
especially during those times when she was working nights.
In all aspects of
family life, Packie and Margaret were inseparable.
Whatever they did, they did together.
Wherever
they went, they went together.
Having grown up on a farm Packie had a great love of farming life.
He was a great
judge of cattle and, of course,
he kept his couple of cattle and his flock of sheep.
His
enthusiasm for the farming led him to become involved in the Irish Farmers Association.
He
was chairperson of the local IFA branch and was totally committed to
improving the
lot of its members, constantly campaigning on main farming issues of the day.
In 2007 Packie found a new interest in life.
Having joined the Drumkeeran Drama Group,
he
played his first role on stage in The Dear Departed.
One of his finest performances
was playing in the role of
Harry Bradshaw in the comedy Widows Paradise.
And one of
the proudest moments of his life was when that Widows Paradise
was presented on stage
in New York.
His was a simple sense of pride in what this small drama group
from Drumkeeran
had achieved.
For Packie was a man who was very proud of his native town,
of his native parish and
of his native county.
He was very proud of its traditions, of its folklore,
of its
religious tradition, and, above all, of its music.
Packie may not have played a musical instrument
but he had a great ear for traditional
Irish music
and he had a great knowledge of it.
He had an intense interest in promoting
the music
and was an enthusiastic member of the John McKenna Society
and chairperson
of it.
And his interest in the music wasn’t limited to traditional Irish music.
He was one
of the founding members of Drumkeeran Church Choir,
and he was instrumental in getting
other singers in the area to join.
This, for Packie, was another expression of his
deep religious faith.
He was in his own quiet way a man of prayer,
and above all man
who would never miss his Sunday Mass
and would never miss the opportunity to receive
Holy Communion.
And that word, Communion, sums up the life and outlook of Packie McPartlan.
He did
his best to promote the sense of communion and community in the locality.
Packie’s
involvement in the IFA, his involvement in the John McKenna Society
and his involvement
in the GAA were all expressions
of his deep awareness of the importance of community
spirit.
And of course, Packie enjoyed his Saturday night pint.
And he enjoyed the chat
and the banter with his friends in the community.
So when the news broke in the early days of June
that Packie was critically ill,
the
whole community around Drumkeeran was taken aback.
No one could believe that Packie
McPartlan,
who had been out and about until a few days earlier,
could have become so
seriously ill in so short a time.
There was a deep sense of shock,
but there was also
a huge sense of compassion and empathy
for Margaret and for Patrick and Thomas.
On Friday, 5 June, Packie died peacefully in Sligo General Hospital,
little over a
week after he had been admitted.
He is survived by his wife Margaret,
and by his two sons, Patrick and Thomas.
He is also survived by his mother Betty,
by his sisters Mary, Gertie and Pauline,
and
by his brothers Seamus and Martin.
St Brigid’s Church, Drumkeeran, was packed to overflowing
for the Funeral Mass which
took place on Monday, 8 June.
It was one of the largest funerals in the parish in many years.
There were six guards of honour on the approach roads to the church;
Drumkeeran GAA Club, The John McKenna Society,
Drumkeeran Drama Group, Leitrim Co
Council,
The IFA and Drumkeeran NS.
The large number of well known traditional musicians who joined the congregation
bears
eloquent witness to the high esteem in which Packie was held in Irish music circles.
Chief celebrant of the Mass was Fr Gerard Alwill PP,
assisted by Fr John Gilhooly,
a first cousin of Packie,
Fr John Carroll (Hospital Chaplain), Fr Vincent Connaughton
(PP Killenumery),
Fr Cathal Faughnan (PP Keadew/Arigna) and Fr Maurice McMorrow (PP
Ballinaglera).
After the Mass Packie was laid to rest
in Drumkeeran Cemetery.