ADDITIONAL NOTES
Copied from my brother Desmond’s excellent tribute
to
my father and mother, Paddy and Una
Paddy
finally retired from the army in 1955, choosing to keep the rank he held. He was allowed to postpone his retirement a
few months, so that he would have served exactly 25 years.
After
returning to County Fermanagh with Una and the boys, Paddy worked hard to
establish himself in chicken farming, making chicken houses to his own
design. However, it became clear that
with foxes and other difficulties, chicken farming was not going to provide
sufficient income.
So
he and Una bought ‘The Hotel’ in Lisbellaw, County Fermanagh, which they
renamed ‘The Wild Duck Inn’. While the
main business of ‘The Wild Duck Inn’ was the public bar, Una looked after the
catering and accommodation for visiting fishermen and the like, while Paddy
enjoyed supplying the local gentry with fine wine he obtained from Justerini
and Brooks in London.
Paddy
revived his lifelong interest in horses by starting to breed them. Although he could only afford to do this in a
small way, he was nevertheless remarkably successful in that he bred four foals
that went on to win races. 'Lucky
Argument' won four races in a row including the Andy Capp Handicap Stakes and
Lomond Shoe won at least three races.
Castle Shane won races in Belgium, and Evening Slipper, also a winner,
was potentially the finest.
When
they sold the inn in late 1971, Paddy and Una went to Derry, Dromara, County
Down, where they farmed and bred horses for 12 years.
In
1984 Paddy and Una sold up and moved to St Leonards-on-Sea, so that they could
be nearer three of their four sons, Peter, Michael and Desmond. This was a whole new adventure in a beautiful
house looking straight out to sea. There
was a large garden where they continued their passions for gardening, Paddy
with vegetables and Una with flowers.
Sadly
Una died on 16th January 1986. Paddy
continued to live at St Leonards until August 1999 when, as a result of
declining health, he applied to become an in-pensioner of the
He
settled in well at the Royal Hospital and was very happy there. He was cared for to the highest standards
until his death on Saturday 2nd September 2000.
Paddy
enjoyed life immensely and was never happier than when he was doing things to
help people. He commanded a great deal
of respect and was scrupulously honest.
He also had a very fine dry sense of humour. With tremendous energy, he loved hard work
and long walks. One of life's natural
inventors, he always had some ingenious solution, no matter what problem was
confronted. Reliable, kind, gentle, modest, courteous and polite he was a true
gentleman. His sons will always be very
proud of him and remember him with great affection.
