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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-measures.
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.