Crowds fill funeral Mass for Cork woman with no next of kin after social media appeal
Cork Originally Mary Rip From West Adrigole Picture: Was Ie In Regan
A large crowd of about 200 people attended the funeral of a West Cork woman in Co Carlow on Tuesday morning after an appeal from a funeral director for people to spare 45 minutes to ensure she would not be sent off alone.
Mary Regan, 89, died on November 29 at Hillview Nursing Home in Carlow. Though she was originally from Adrigole in West Cork, Ms Regan had lived in Carlow for many years.
Her partner, Frederick 'Tony' Lang, died in November 2023 following a short illness. Ms Regan was predeceased by siblings Paddy, Con, Patricia, and Jerry.
In a post on the Death Notices Carlow Facebook group, Rory Healy, director of R Healy & Son Funeral Directors in Rathnapish, wrote Ms Regan had "no next of kin and also didn't have many visitors to her in the nursing home, only the great care and attention shown by the staff of Hillview".
Ahead of Ms Regan's funeral Mass on Tuesday morning, Mr Healy encouraged people from the Carlow area to attend, saying if they could spare 45 minutes on Tuesday morning, it would "be great to see that a lady who lived to be nearly 90 years will get a farewell from her adopted town of Carlow by the people of Carlow".
"Let's not send Mary off from Carlow alone," he wrote.
Mr Healy's appeal was successful, as dozens of people attended Ms Regan's Mass at the Church of the Holy Family, Askea, Carlow, on Tuesday morning.
Speaking to the afterwards, Mr Healy said seeing the crowd that gathered to say goodbye to Ms Regan would "lift your heart — almost burst your heart with pride for the people of Carlow".
"[They] turned out on a cold morning and it was an early Mass. It was great to see it."
He had made the appeal as he was aware Ms Regan did not have many members of her family left and R Healy & Son had dealt with the funeral of Mr Lang last year.
Addressing the congregation at Ms Regan's funeral mass, Fr Tommy Dillon noted the number of people in the church "would be a lot more than your average funeral".
Mr Healy said "about 200" people had attended.
Fr Dillon also noted he was heartened to see a large group of students from the nearby Presentation College in Askea were also in attendance. Some students were selected to bring up the offertory gifts
At the service, Ms Regan was described as someone with "a beautiful, gentle presence in the world".
Fr Dillon explained how she would have her hair done each week and how her face would "light up" when he and Fr Tom Little, who was also present, would deliver Mass in Hillview Nursing Home each week.
The Mass concluded as one of Ms Regan's friends sang a song about Carlow town that she was said to have enjoyed.
Ms Regan will be buried at 11am on Wednesday in the cemetery adjoining St Fachtna's Church in her native Adrigole.