THE town of Ennis lost one its legends this week with the passing of local business man Jack Heaslip a day after he celebrated his 96th birthday. Jack, who was originally from Knocktopher, Kilkenny, was well-known throughout Ennis and Clare with Heaslip’s shop a fixture of O’Connell Street since 1960. Speaking at his funeral mass at Ennis Cathedral on Thursday morning, Jack’s friend Bishop Willie Walsh said that while it was a sad occasion, Jack had lived a very full life. “We gather, I think, in both sadness and in gladness. In sadness at the departure of a dear friend, but in gladness too, to have known such a lovely, gentle person, who enriched so many of our lives. Gladness too, I think, at the manner of his departure having just celebrated in song and story his 96th birthday. We thank God for his truly blessed and full life.” Delivering a eulogy, his son Sean said Jack had been a …
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