LONGFORD PERSON OF THE YEAR 2016

Tess Murphy
This year's Longford Person of the Year Award is jointly shared between Tess Murphy and Elsie Moxham.

Tess Murphy

Tess Murphy (nee O’Donovan) grew up on a small farm in Ardfield near Clonakilty in west Cork. She was the eldest in a family four. Her brothers James and Con are still living in west Cork and she is a regular visitor to the area; her brother John is deceased. She attended the local primary school and completed her secondary education with the Sacred Heart Sisters of Mercy, Clonakilty. Going on to study Arts in UCC, she left when she was offered a job in Aer Lingus, partly, she says, due to economic circumstances and, "if I’m honest, partly due to the perceived glamour of working in Aer Lingus!" Many years later Tess returned to college and graduated with a B.Sc degree from NUI Manooth in Rural Development. She also holds a certificate in Women's studies.

While working in Dublin she met her husband, Maurice Murphy, a native of Newtownforbes Co. Longford. From that point on she was a frequent visitor to Longford, she says. Due again to economic circumstance they began their married life in England, returning to Ireland in 1980. Tess and Maurice have since lived in Ballinamuck.

Obviously possessing the altruistic gene from early on, while living in England Tess trained and worked as a refugee support worker, involved mainly with Indian women who had immigrated to Uganda but were forced to flee from the dictatorship of Idi Amin and move to England. "It was while working with those women that I first became aware of the specific inequalities that women face across race, class and creed", she says.

Tess and Maurice have four children: Nuala lives in Germany and works in online retailing; Jenny set up in Norfolk, working in the area of special needs education; Rachael is in Kildare and works for Foróige and James is based in London, working in the hospitality industry. They have six grandchildren and, remarks Tess, "another reality of Irish rural life is that as a result of three of our four children living abroad, a lot of our time is spent travelling to see them and our grandchildren".

When they first moved to Ballinamuck Tess joined the local ICA and really enjoyed its activities, acquiring new skills and the social interaction with other local women. Together with Margaret McEntee, Colette Cox and Rosette Owens she was involved in setting up the first children’s playgroup in Ballinamuck. The local led to the ICA at county level where she got to know Elsie Moxham and the late Mary O’Hara. Their acute awareness of the struggles in the lives of many of the women they encountered and their vision to help these women to make progress and become confident and independent, ultimately led to Longford Women’s Link (LWL). During this period Tess was also an active member of AnTaisce. “ I have always been a passionate believer in the importance of looking after our environment”, she says.

In addition to her work with LWL, Tess Murphy continuous to be closely involved in her own community through the Ballinamuck Community Enterprise Society. The society was established to commemorate the bi-centenary of the Battle of Ballinamuck in a way that would be of lasting benefit to the community: with the support of LEADER funding, the society developed a room in the ‘98 Hall into a visitor centre explaining the whole history of the 1798 Rebellion, culminating in final defeat at the Battle of Ballinamuck where the French and Irish troops were outnumbered by vastly superior Crown forces. “We also established a twinning partnership with the French town, Essert, near where the French General Humbert was born. That partnership has endured and in the intervening years hundreds of local people, particularly young people have benefited from the yearly exchanges. And for For the past few years our local musicians have established a fan base in Essert where their St. Patricks Day concert is the musical highlight of the year”, says Tess.

The Community Enterprise Centre has also developed the Edenmore bog walk. “It is there I go with Maurice and our two dogs, Milly and Mimi, when we want to relax, that place of absolute peace and quiet!”, she concludes. Words by Liam Caldwell

Elsie Moxham
Elsie Moxham

Elsie Moxham (nee Stephen), an only daughter was originally from Collins Avenue, Whitehall in Dublin. She attended primary school close-by on Howth road and completed her secondary education in Bertrand and Rutland High school on Eccles Street. The school later amalgamated with other surrounding schools to form Mount Temple Comprehensive school, Clontarf, renowned as the nursery of U2 Rock band.

Immediately after secondary school Elsie joined the workforce, working as a laboratory assistant in the quality control department of two jam-making factories, later joining the staff of Gouldings Fertilisers. She was the first women in that role in Gouldings and "some of my fellow workers took delight in telling me that I was employed only because girls were cheaper to employ", she laughs. She met her husband-to-be, Longford man, Ken Moxham, through work - and not only were they colleagues in Gouldings, but they also studied science together by evening in Kevin St college. And it obviously wasn't all study during this time - their relationship blossomed and they soon were married.

"After our marriage there was then a legal requirement that I leave my job - different times! We lived in Harold's Cross for three years - where the first of our four children, Stephanie, was born - but Ken had always been interested in farming and and it was always his intention to return to the family farm", she recalls. When Ken's father became ill they moved back to Colehill and took over the running of the farm; after his life's work, Ken sadly died just three years ago. When asked how a city lass coped with the farming chores which were naturally very new to her, Elsie answers, "with great difficulty", "but it had to be done", she said.

Their daughter, Stephanie, eventually returned to Dublin, the city of her birth, and now lives there with her husband. Their other three children are also married - Neil too lives in Dublin, while Lorna and Bruce are living in London. Elsie has seven "very special grandchildren", who help to keep her young.

Elsie had always been interested in craft work, so after moving to Colehill she soon joined Carrickedmond branch of the ICA and "enjoyed the friendship and encouragement of the members there". She found the ICA to be a great organisation for providing opportunities to try different activities and develop new skills. It was while taking part on some of the many good ICA courses that she met and became friends with Tess Murphy and the late Mary O'hara; out of those fortuitous friendships grew the idea and the reality of Longford Women's Link.

As she looks back on the early years of effort by Longford women to help themselve, Elsie quotes James Bryant Conant: "Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out". And when refering to their brainchild, Longford Women's Link, Elsie modestly suggests that once an entity has been set up it evolves and develops almost naturally without too much input. However, many others would say that without solid foundations and people to "nudge" things along, real progress would not be made! Words by Liam Caldwell

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD RECIPIENT 2016

Paddy Egan

The Association also expresses pleasure in bestowing the Association's Special Recognition Award 2016 on Paddy Egan.
Photo Credit : Longford Leader

The voice coming over the telephone exuded friendliness, energy, enthusiasm and sheer love of life. It was that of Paddy Egan, poet, historian, broadcaster and farmer and I was ringing to inform him that he'd been short-listed by the Longford Association in Dublin to receive our Special Recognition Award 2016. And when I was in a position less than a week later to let him know he had finally been selected for the award, Paddy was generous in expressing his delight and was gracious in his acceptance.

Paddy Egan was born in Glanmore Kenagh to Joseph, originally from county Roscommon, and Winnifred, nee Hanlon from Ballymahon. Both hailed from farming stock and they brought up six sons together: Eamon, who farms in Kenagh; the late Francis, who ran a sheep farm in Abbylara; Paddy himself; Tom, a garage owner in Castlepollard; Dominic, who farms in Streete and Michael is an electrician in his native Kenagh.

After St Dominics NS, Kenagh, Paddy attended St Mels College "for a couple of terms" and at 17 he went to work in Bray for four years and later worked in Swords, undergoing specialised training in dairy farming and husbandry. Some years after returning home, he set up one of the first milk bottling machines in Longford and spent approximately 10 years bottling and delivering milk in the locality. He also had a special interest in breeding Aberdeen Angus Cattle and was a member of the Aberdeen Angus Society of Ireland.

Even the busiest life finds time for love, and in 1968 Paddy married Gertie Farrell, a native of Killoe. They brought up six daughters - Grainne lives in Co. Donegal with her partner, Martin Kelly; Winnifred is married to Andy Mc Mahon. They have 3 children (Brendan, Emer and Ashling) and live in Co Tipperary; Breege lives in Kenagh with her husband, Gary Lawlor, and son, Ryan; Anne lives in Dublin with her husband, Alex Fleming and their 3 children (Annabel, Patrick and Lucy); Norah lives in New York with her husband, Neil Blauuboer, and Patricia is married to Afshin Nasoodi and they live in England with daughter, Emmeline. Padddy and Gertie also have eight grandchildren.

Paddy Egan could truly be described as a polymath. His range of interests over a lifetime is breathtaking. The list includes membership of Macra na Feirme, the GAA and Longford Ploughing Association, of which organisation he was secretary from 1960-'63 and through which he developed a lifelong association with Anna May Mc Hugh. He was the local correspondent for the Longford News and has been the Kenagh scribe for the Leader for which the past 35 years. Graduating from Maynooth university in 1998 with a diploma in local history, Paddy is a local historian of note, collecting historical artifacts, antiques (which includes a few old bicycles like the high nelly), books and photographs and has a particular interest in both farming and domestic implements used in times past. He is a lifetime member of Longford historical society. As a result of this local interest, Paddy is considered largely responsible for bringing about the Corlea Visitor Centre in Kenagh, having first got the late archaeologist, Prof Barry Raftery from UCD, interested.

Added to all this Paddy is a founder member, in 1993, and current chairman of Kenagh Community Co op Society Ltd, which has become an integral part of the local community; he has been a member of the board of Irish Rural Link for 20 years and is chairman of the Ballymahon Leo Casey Historical Society. He is also a member of the Longford Heritage Forum and also the Royal Antiquarian Society of Ireland, is a registered tour guide with Bord Failte and has become a recognised authority on local genealogy. Never someone to resist a challenge he and local wildlife expert, Ben Murphy, (producer &camera man) made a documentary on the Royal canal and it's bridges in Co Longford. Added to that, he has been a Peace Commissioner for 35 years.

He likes to emphasise the educational benefits of involvement with oganisations like Macra na Feirme and the GAA. As a teenager and young adult he was able to take part in debating, public speaking, drama, question time and field activities, winning a silver medal for stock judging in 1962. Although, by his own admission, he didn't play much football, Paddy was very involved with GAA over a long number of years at local level, acting as club PRO for 20 years and for about 15 years helping to run the club's bingo nights. He was also involved in organising local children participating in Scor na nOg. Indeed, as a participant he and his teammates, Tommy Flanagan and Liam Mulvihill, reached the all Ireland final of the senior Scor question time.

Paddy Egan's first foray in writing was through a booklet he wrote to coinside with the opening of the new church in kenagh in 1981. Since then he's been involved in over 20 publications, mostly of a historical nature, editing approximately 15 of those. To date he has written about 200 poems, publishing five volumes of poetry entitled "Rambles through Kilcommoc" vol 1-5., am presently working on a 6th. He has published a comprehensive study on the history of flax and linen production in Co Longford, a leader in this field in pre famine times. This was in fact the basis of his thesis for his local history diploma in Maynooth and it also led to a further publication of an in depth study of the history of the Mosstown estate.

Broadcasting came about a number of years ago when he occasionally participated on programmes on Shannonside radio with Mary Claire Greally and other broadcasters about local events and history. For the past 18mths or so he has been involved in over 60 programmes on Shannonside every Sunday evening with discussion topics ranging from old religious customs, Irish heritage, rural life, to name just some. These are presented as gaelige by Sinead Hughes.

Paddy's interest in history has seen him take numerous trips to World War One battle sites, war graves and memorials scattered throughout Europe in France,Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and Germany. Resulting from this he has put together an exhibition "of this atrocious event in history", as he describes it, and has had the honour of having it displayed in various places around Longford. Most recently he has published a book, "Forgotten Heros", in honour and memory of the WW1 participants from Kenagh and it's surrounds.

It's hard to imagine Paddy Egan settling back with the proverbial slippers and pipe, "but after 37 years of milking cows twice a day every day, I have semi retired from farming", but casually remarks "I am still active with sheep and cattle breeding". In his spare time (spare time?!) he likes to do crosswords. Paddy was a classmate of comedian, Dave Allen, which he describes as his small claim to fame. Dave went to school in Kenagh for a short time during the Emergency and Paddy says he knows how he lost his finger, "but shhh!!!", he jokes. I know he can tell a good yarn, but I am reliably informed that that's no yarn! Words by Liam Caldwell

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