An Appreciation - Marian O’Mahony loved family, friends and community

It can be difficult to encapsulate a person and their life in words. Especially when that person was as and beloved as the late Marian O’Mahony (née Grant), who, by her devotion to family, friends and community, wove such a rich and colourful tapestry of achievement. Born on February 11th, 1954, the second child of Dermot and Babbie, from Rossoulty, Upperchurch, Marian grew up at the family business, Grant’s Bar, a hub of camaraderie and connection in the parish.

There she joined her big sister Bridie and was followed by younger sisters Norah, Rena, Pat and Rita and brothers, Jerry and Eddie. The Grants are a close and loving family, and Marian was at the heart of it. She went to school in Newtown, Drombane, and later to St Mary’s in Nenagh, but hair was always Marian’s passion. She enjoyed practising different styles on her sisters and, aged 16, went to work with hairdresser Annette Tobin in Nenagh.

Recognising her talent, Annette sent Marian for further training at Peter Mark, then on Dublin’s Grafton Street, where the teenager delighted in learning all the latest trends in cuts, styling and colour. She was a natural. In 1976 Marian opened her own salon on Lower Main Street, Borrisoleigh, where getting your wash and set was just the starting point.

With her ready smile, ladylike charm and genuine interest in people, Marian soon became so much more than the accomplished local hairdresser. She was a confidante, a counsellor, a cheerleader, a matchmaker, a keeper of secrets. She revelled in her clients’ successes and consoled them in their difficulties.

Customers, male and female, could arrive with both their hair and love life in disarray, but after a ‘do’ and a pep talk from Marian, they would leave looking and feeling a million dollars. She was a ‘fixer’.

Meanwhile, her skills saw Marian sharing all of life’s special milestones with her clients - braiding hair for First Holy Communions and Confirmations, fashioning up-styles for Debs Balls and beautifying brides on their wedding mornings. But her own love story was perhaps the most romantic. In Hollywood they call the circumstances under which Marian met Liam O’Mahony in May 1983 a ‘meet cute’.

A teacher in Synge Street CBS in Dublin at the time, Liam, from Thurles, was in Borrisoleigh tying up some loose ends before his brother John’s imminent wedding to local woman Mary Groome. Liam needed a haircut and Mary knew just the woman to do it. But Liam was too shy to talk to Marian as she expertly gave him his short, back and sides, hiding behind his newspaper and glancing at her in the mirror.

Fate intervened when they met again later that same evening in Kennedy’s of the Ragg. He asked her to dance and she said yes; Marian was a fabulous dancer. At the end of the night he asked her to a match in Cahir the following day and she agreed. He picked her up and Marian would later say she knew Liam was ‘the one’ by the time they got to Cahir. Liam knew by the time Marian buckled her seat belt.

They went for food in the Galtee Inn, talked non-stop and realised they had much in common - an ambivalence about pubs, a love of nature, and of theatre and the arts, shared values about the importance of family and friendship. However, they never made it to the match.

Seven months later they got engaged, and they were wed the following summer, June 1984. The happy couple designed and built their lovely marital home in Knockanevin, Borrisoleigh, moving in in 1989, and becoming lifelong friends with neighbours. Liam got a job as an Irish and history teacher in Roscrea Vocational School/Coláiste Phobal Ros Cré, where he remained until his retirement almost 7 years ago.

Their three children Deirbhile (36), Cian (34) and Grace (28) came along and Marian embraced motherhood with characteristic enthusiasm, taking great pride in their academic, career and personal achievements. It is testament to her fortitude and positivity that after her first cancer diagnosis almost eighteen years ago, aged just 52, Marian continued to smile, care about everyone and ‘do heads’ in her home. She lived life to the fullest, despite her health concerns.

Marian, Liam and members of the O'Mahony and Grant family travelled to Koh Samui, Thailand, in 2015, to see Cian marry Katie Currie from Christchurch, New Zealand. In 2022, Marian and Liam enjoyed a four-week trip to Australia, where Cian and Katie live in Brisbane and Grace and her boyfriend James O’Halloran, from Clare, live in Sydney. Marian was pleased and reassured to see them in their new homeland and to meet their friends.

The arrival of her first grandchild, Ella Blair, last July, was a great source of joy, and Marian and Liam flew to Nottingham to be with Deirbhile, her husband Dan and the gorgeous new arrival. It was love at first sight.

In the final months of her life, when Deirbhile, Dan, Ella, Cian and Grace stayed in the family home in Borrisoleigh, Marian was deeply comforted. The presence of the baby, in particular, soothed and enchanted her.

The family enjoyed a cherished last Christmas together and were with Marian in her final hours. The news of Marian’s death on January 25th sent a pall of sadness for miles, as her very wide circle of friends and family throughout Tipperary and further afield digested the news. Her funeral was one of the largest in the area in recent memory, the outpouring of grief visible and affecting.

The family were treated with utmost kindness and consideration by Seamus, Zita, Karina and George at Kennedy’s funeral home, Borrisoleigh. In his heartfelt Mass, Fr Ger Hennessy reflected all the ways in which Marian touched people’s lives for the better, while the melodious choir lifted the heavy hearts of mourners.

Marian is buried alongside her parents in Templebeg graveyard, Upperchurch, with its panoramic views of Slievenamon, the Knockmealdowns, the Comeraghs and the Galtees. It seemed fitting that, for Marian’s arrival, the mountains were dusted in snow and looking more beautiful than ever.

The O’Mahony and Grant families wish to express their profound gratitude for all of the incredible support they have received from the community at this heartbreaking time, as they come to terms with the immeasurable loss of Marian.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam dílis. Month’s mind Mass for Marian will take place in the Sacred Heart Church, Borrisoleigh, at 7pm on Saturday 24th February.