One of my favourite childhood memories, was playing cops and robbers with Lee in the land adjacent to our ancestorial family home (Ryan family) in Crosspatrick, Kilkenny. I remember that day like it was yesterday, running around the caravans, and sneaking over to the shore which we were told to stay away from because we would fall through into the unknown. Uncle Patrick, had put 4 pegs, around the shore with old stockings to ensure we knew where in the field the shore was, the stockings were enough to keep us at a distance. I remember running in and out of your grandmother Neill’s caravan and hiding in my own. At that age, the concept of the extended family such as cousins or aunties was not cemented in my mind, but I remember being told that we were cousins and that was all that was important, we are in fact second cousins, but all I knew is that we were family and became fast friends. The joy and memories of those days are still something I am reminded of daily as my Mother has a picture of the two of us posing with our toy guns, still pinned to board in our kitchen, and are cherished childhood memories. I would ask every summer of my childhood, before we took our annual trip to Kilkenny, if Cousin Lee with the pony tale was going to be there when I arrived, I was always greatly disappointed when he was not.
I was informed by my cousin Louise, Lee’s mother when she visited a few years back, that the birth of Lee’s child changed his life for good, and that he was working tirelessly to provide a better life for them. Lee, it seemed was finding his purpose, meaning and direction, it took me a lot longer to find the same, it was not lost on me, that the day of Lee’s funeral was also the day of my wedding, my thoughts were and still are with Lee, Louise, his children, partner and all of his family and friends. I feel for anyone who ever got the chance to know Lee, because I know their loss is great.
Rest easy with aunty Neill,
Love from your cousin and friend
Fágann an bás crá croí ní féidir le haon duine leigheas, fágann grá cuimhne nach féidir le haon duine a ghoid
James Connolly
18th December 2022