Warm, compassionate, vibrant community champion who will be missed in Tipperary
On September 25, 2021, Cahir town lost a community champion and the friendly face of Stella Ryan.
Stella moved to Cahir in the 1960s after returning from America with her husband Pat and four young children. Originally from Cappawhite she travelled to New York when she was just 17.
Stella was a warm, compassionate, and vibrant woman who always went out of her way to help others – no matter what. She was a proud and dignified lady who had a passion for life. She had a warm, friendly nature which endeared her to everyone she met, and it is a great testament to her nature that she formed so many long-lasting friendships over the years.
Stella went on to have seven children, 24 grandchildren and 26 great grandchildren.
She was a kind, friendly woman who believed in helping others in any way she could. Stella loved her community and the people in it. She organised buses to Dublin for people who otherwise wouldn’t have got there and they had many a great day at Dublin zoo or shopping in Dublin. She was involved in the Community Games, Cahir Credit Union as well as visiting others that people had forgotten in their homes, nursing homes and hospitals. She was presented with Cahir Person of the Year by the Lions club. She was a devout woman with a great faith in Padre Pio and she was involved in arranging for a statue to be erected in St. Mary’s church in Cahir. She was a minister of the Eucharist and attended Eucharistic adoration every week.
Her last few years were hard for her as fate dealt her the cruellest blow it could, and she lost the power of speech. Cahir town will miss this great woman’s friendly face and warm heart.