'Whatever he did, he did it in the John Miller way': Tributes paid to former director of Cork Vision Centre
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John Xavier Miller was born in Stillorgan in December 1952, the second child in a family of four boys. He studied English and History at University College Dublin and first moved to Cork in 1978 to take up a job as Southern Regional Director with NGO Concern.
Following his death, there has been an outpouring of heartfelt tributes to him in his adopted city, in Fountainstown where his family made their home, and far beyond.
John is remembered as a loving family man, father to Stephen, Karen, and Brian, and dedicated lifelong partner to his wife, Patricia, whom he first met when they were just 17 and 15 years old.
“It was one of those wonderful love-at-first-sight stories,” Basil said. “It was one look and that was it: they’ve been together ever since.”
As well as his elder brother, Basil, John is survived by his younger brothers, Patrick and Rory.
Beyond his family life, John X Miller is remembered for his contribution to Cork’s civic, creative, and diplomatic presence, as the director of Cork Vision Centre, as an honorary consul with deep roots in international diplomacy, and as someone who worked tirelessly at preserving and promoting the heritage and culture of the second city.
Having worked for Concern, John took on several teaching positions overseas throughout the eighties and into the early nineties and his family travelled with him. He taught English in Nigeria, Borneo, Malawi and finally Brunei, before returning to Cork, and working with Cork Civic Trust, a non-profit dedicated to preserving Cork’s civic and architectural heritage, where he would eventually become CEO. He would also serve as director of Cork Vision Centre.
Keeping the unusual X for Xavier in his name was a strategic choice, Basil said, as was John’s inimitable sense of style. “It was good for his brand and he deliberately dressed in a colourful way,” Basil said.
Civic Trust House, on Pope’s Quay, is a council-owned building and the oldest house in Cork city. Its restoration and use as a home for arts organisations was in part John’s brainchild.
Nicki Ffrench Davis, building manager at Civic Trust House, says all the arts organisations housed there are “shocked and saddened” at the news of John’s death.“He had such a great sense of humour that you were never sure how serious he was being. He had great panache and he cut quite a figure wherever he went.”
Another historic building with which John was connected is St Peter’s Church. Countless art exhibitions and events were held there under John’s tenure as director.
In his time as Honorary Consul of Hungary in Ireland, from 2006 to 2018, John founded , a magazine and online service for the Irish diplomatic network.
Andrew Desmond, founder of event listings guide , first met John in a professional capacity but considered him a personal friend. “He just had such great ideas and was so creative, and had the skills to see them through,” Andrew said.
“I saw him about a month and a half before he died, over the Christmas period,” Andrew said. “I met him on Friar St, and he still had the bright light and the twinkle in his eye and we said we’d have coffee soon. I feel cheated not to get to go for that last coffee with him. He had style and flare, and whatever he did, he did it in the John Miller way. We were very lucky that that Stillorgan man came down and picked Cork as his home. He was a great champion for the city, and for the arts, and for community.”