Bridge tribute to Pat Dunlea
The most significant thing in the Bridge this month isn't on the front page. It's an 8-page supplement tribute to the late Pat Dunlea titled 'Rest in Peace our Beloved Friend'.
Bernard Berney recalls how Pat did what he did 'not for public acclaim, but because to help others gave him great joy'. Hubert Beaumont records how he 'never saw the problem, only the solution', while Sean Landers remembers how Pat bought a rare portrait of John La Touche of Harristown at Sothebys for the Heritage Centre, simply because that's where he felt it should be.
Herbie Sheehan recounts many instances of Pat's skill in getting people involved in projects, as well as their regular golf games together. Ger Kearins regarded Pat as a 'like a big brother' when their families were neighbours together, and afterwards when he used to help out with restoring the old cars that were another of Pat's passions.
Liam Sherry writes about the support and encouragement the Pitch & Putt Club received from Pat, whose motto was that 'once it makes Kilcullen better, that's what counts' and on that mark he made sure that everything was 'done to the best'.
A poem from Pat Mooney up in the Nissan garage salesroom details the 'cold night when we met' while Pat Dunlea was up a tree fixing Christmas lights, and Martin Whyte's piece on 'first and foremost a Kilcullen man' moves from their youth days playing card games in 'Corrigan's Crocks Yard' to the generous financial support given to many town organisations when Pat became MD of KDA.
An unnamed member of the Kilcullen Scouts records how much a friend Pat was to that organisation, and his motto to 'Encourage Someone Today'. Micscha Fekete writes about the 'Big Legacy' from Pat Dunlea that is the Town Hall Theatre and the Drama Group, and also how he was able to see the vision of 'this strange bunch of foreigners' when the Camphill Community came to town.
P J Lydon gives an insight into the history and the survival of the Community Centre, thanks to Pat, and recalls also that he 'was a great man for the finishing touches'.
And finally, in a two-page piece by Lesley O'Brien, we read a sometimes hilarious account about the famous 'Link or Sink' political campaign waged under Pat's leadership to (unsuccessfully) get a northern link road included in the By-Pass plans. "At least we tried, and that was the important fact," she notes about 'two exhausting weeks' of a campaign when 'the Kilcullen air itself was alive with energy, laughter and a sense of fun and enjoyment'.
There are a number of pictures, including Pat and Nessa at the Millennium Street Party, Pat digging his way out of a sand trap, painting a door on a theatre set, and beside the late Paddy Nugent with whom he shared a common goal of the best for Kilcullen.
Perhaps the most telling one is a sign he photographed himself while on holiday in America, dedicated to one Ignatius Joseph Firbo, which quoted that man's wisdom: 'What we have done for ourselves dies with us; what we have done for others remains, and is immortal'.
Quite so.
Brian Byrne.
ED NOTE: Our usual 'It Says in The Bridge' feature will be published later in the week.
