Remembering 'The Chief'
A seat just inside the door of the original Hideout, in a corner against the remains of the original lounge's small counter, was always 'The Chief's' place.
I heard of Vinny's death while racing between planes at Charles de Gaulle Airport, and the first image that flashed into my mind was of him in that very corner.
It was a corner with its own sentimental attachment for Vinny, as the counter was the only remaining piece of the original behind which Patsy Rankin worked before he married her. Indeed, a decorative plate by the artist R Budd depicts Patsy there.
In marriage, they were the love of each other's lives for more than 55 years. The loss to her, and to Sean, Vincent, Eugene, Monica, Freda, Aisling and Mary, as well as his surviving siblings, is the kind that only a very close family can know. But it may be softened to some degree by a legacy of community love and respect for Vinny of which they can be proud.
The O'Halloran brothers -- Vinny, Buddy and Jackie -- followed in their own father John's trade as contract builders. They worked in every county in Ireland, and were known as a team that would come through on their work with an unstinting dedication to quality and finishing on time.
When away from home, Vinny wasn't cut off from his other passion, golf. Martin (Buddy) recalls how his brother’s membership card from the Curragh Golf Club opened doors in any local club which might be near their place of work.
Vinny was most content when contract requirements had the O'Hallorans in the West of Ireland, as it was the homeland from which their father had come before his emigration to America, where the lads were born.
As a returned emigrant, John O'Halloran came to Kilcullen to work for Cormac Murray on the building of Old Nicholastown. It was settling down time for himself and his family, and their first home here was in that same Nicholastown. A friendship then between John and my grandfather, James J Byrne Snr, was to wind its way down the generations to Vinny's close friendship with my own late father.
Dad and Vinny did their own travelling together on many occasions, some of the later ones with me taking over Vinny's position as driver. A particular trip to Clifden is especially memorable, not least because of the time it took to get there. One or other of the pair always knew some publican in each town on the route. The passing through was therefore sometimes delayed. In Clifden itself, both of them renewed acquaintance with wonderful people, all characters in their own right.
In retrospect, trips like these probably very much developed my own interest in people and their doings, and laid foundation for some of my subsequent writing and journalism.
Though born in New York and spending his early years in Pittsburgh, Vinny was very much of the Kilcullen where he grew up. He loved his adopted village, and was very involved in its development. The best example of this was his involvement in the Credit Union.
The O'Halloran family were in there from the beginning. Martin's wife Judy was the first to open an account, Patsy was the fourth. Vinny served over the decades in many capacities, including chairman and as Kilcullen's representative at Chapter 7, the regional level of the movement.
His building expertise was also very useful. When the Credit Union bought its own premises, the former home of schoolteachers the Misses Griffin and Duffy, he took charge of making the interior useable as offices. Much later, when the current flagship building project was mooted, his knowledge of design, plans, and the tendering process was invaluable. And when the building was actually in construction, his eagle eye as the appointed foreman on behalf of the Credit Union was crucial to the successful completion of the project.
In his most recent years, despite a succession of health issues, the Chief retained an almost daily interest in the building that anybody in Kilcullen Credit Union will tell you is part of his legacy to the modern community of Kilcullen. If there was a problem in the structure, it was Vinny who made the phone call with the necessary directness to have it rectified.
In Ireland, having your coffin draped in a flag is mostly related to a connection with the Defence Forces or, much less frequently now, the old IRA. When Vinny O'Halloran was brought from his home to the church, and subsequently to St Brigid's Cemetery, he was covered in the blue and white flag of the Credit Union movement. Different, but no less recognising a love of community in cooperation, than is the blue and white of the UN flag.
In stature, Vinny O'Halloran was a big man. He was also a man with a big heart, full of both love and good humour. Both of these last will be sorely missed, but not forgotten until we who knew him are also long gone.
Even when forgotten, though, the contributions of everybody to their community impacts far beyond their memory. For his own, the Chief will always rule.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
Brian Byrne.
