The passing of Pat Dunlea
Though we all knew that he was seriously ill, the news of the death of Pat Dunlea has come as a shock to the community as a whole and to the legions of his individual friends both in Kilcullen and across the country.
It is always sad when somebody dies at a relatively young age. It is particularly so when that person is vibrant, visionary and committed to the betterment of the place he lives in and the people who live in it.
Pat Dunlea was all of those things and more. He was successful and innovative in business. He had the gift of being able to take the long view as well as being equally adept at evaluating an immediate difficulty or opportunity and taking the correct action.
As an entrepreneur he was also prepared to share his expertise, and there are many enterprises around in which he acted as patron, temporary partner while helping to nurture an embryo business to its own success, or as ongoing advisor and mentor.
At community level there are lots of examples of his love of Kilcullen, and it is absolutely without question that many of the facilities which we enjoy today would not exist if Pat Dunlea had not been involved in them. His ability to turn around an apparently lost position has become the stuff of local legend, and the story of his part in the resurrection of the Community Sports and Recreation Complex from financial collapse is just one testament to this.
He didn't always win, but those of us who helped in his political campaign for the 'northern link road' from the motorway can now say that he was right, even if the powers-that-be of the time were unimpressed.
His skill in 'thinking outside the box' was also behind the provision of such amenities as the all-weather pitch, and there are also numerous small facilities and organisations throughout Kilcullen which owe him a debt of at least gratitude: except that, from Pat's perspective, nothing was owed at all.
Always a stalwart of the Kilcullen Drama Group, he was never happier than when wielding a hammer and saw in the building of a set, or sourcing some obscure artifact to complete its dressing. But the very existence of Kilcullen's magnificent Town Hall Theatre will always be a major part of his enduring legacy to Kilcullen, along with the Heritage Centre which forms the basis of his interest in the history of the village, now town, he loved.
His relatively recent forays into development will have in a significant way shaped how the heart of Kilcullen will look in years to come. He had more in mind, and in one of the last conversations I had with him he was already looking much further than any of the constructions now in progress, finished, or publicly in planning.
Most of all, though, Pat Dunlea was a warm, generous and compassionate man. His passing will be most deeply felt by his own family. Nessa, his soulmate since they were children and an equal partner and best friend in every part of their lives together. Their children Shane, Peter and Ann, his sister Miriam and her husband Liam, and daughter-in-law Sandra. Nothing I can write about Pat could replace even a minute fraction of their personal loss, or touch adequately on the full humanity of the man they were the closest to.
From the distance of a small village in the Alberes region of France, where being on holiday precludes me from attending the funeral this evening and tomorrow, I send my most heartfelt condolences. And I salute the memory of a friend, on behalf of all his friends and the whole community of Kilcullen.
Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.
Brian Byrne.
