Comhaltas service award for Mary

YEARS of selfless service will be acknowledged this Thursday night when an award is bestowed on Mary Finnegan at Cois na hAbhna.
Originally from Galway, Mary has been in Ennis for decades now and throughout that time has been involved with Comhaltas, taking charge of catering for countless events year after year.
At her home last Friday afternoon, she was joined by Pat Liddy, treasurer of Cois na hAbhna and its chairman, Frank Whelan, both of whom were quick to praise her work.
Pat recalled the beginnings of the Fleadh Nua and said Mary has been a constant presence since the festival was first mooted. “In November 1973, the first meeting was held to decide that we would take the Fleadh Nua in 1974 and Mary provided the catering at the meeting. She’s been with it since.”
Inevitably, there were challenges to be overcome in the early days but when there were difficulties with catering Mary always sorted them out. “In the early years of Fleadh Nua, we didn’t have a place of our own but Mary was always ingenious in getting places. I remember in the Holy Family school, she got the cafeteria and gathered her staff around her and there was tea and sandwiches brought to each and every venue. No one ever noticed that but it happened. That was done from ’74,” says Pat.
He said Comhaltas was lucky she encountered the late Brendan McMahon after she arrived in the Banner County. “Mary came from Galway to here in the ’60s and Brendan McMahon and his wife were living across the road from her. Brendan would have been involved in ’51 when St Mochulla’s traditional club was formed in Tulla and that developed into Comhaltas in ’54 and he brought her into Comhaltas.”
Frank says Mary has made an important contribution to people’s enjoyment of events at Cois na hAbhna over the years. “People visiting there have had very pleasant experiences and a lot of it is down to the treatment that Mary and her team provided. Faces like Pat and myself might be recognised but Mary would be as well known by people who visit Cois na hAbhna on any kind of a regular basis.”
He said she has always proved herself to be reliable. “She has a great sense of duty and a great sense of responsibility, she’d never let you down.”
Pat agrees with his analysis. “Any time there was anything happening and anything needed to be done with catering, we’d say ‘ring Mary Finnegan’ or ‘tell Mary’ and she would organise everything. She’d make sure everything was done.
“I often thought to myself what would we do if Mary wasn’t there because no one has come along to replace her she’s been there for 40 years and it’s her territory.”
The director general of Comhaltas Labhrás Ó Murchú will be at Cois na hAbhna to honour Mary this Thursday evening.
Mary herself is unused to receiving acknowledgement for her work and was stunned when she was told about it. “They didn’t want to do it after I was six feet under but I nearly died when they told me” she laughed.