‘He was a family man as well as a man of the community’

Former Tipperary Town and  County Councillor Christy Kinahan was a stalwart at the heart of the community for many decades who had a huge influence on how Tipperary Town and the county developed over the years. 

Christy, who hailed from the Cashel Road in Tipperary Town, passed away on June 10 and was buried on June 13 with the funeral taking place at St Michael’s  Church, Tipperary.

At his funeral Mass Fr Eugene Everard paid tribute saying that Christy had worked in the local creamery for many years and had always looked for ways to better the lives of workers and ensure people’s quality of life was enhanced. After spending time in England Christy moved home and made a massive contribution to local politics in Tipperary.

The congregation heard how Christy did all he could for his people and once chained himself to the Kickham Monument to ensure that Tipperary Town held onto an ambulance service.

Over the years he gave great service to South Tipperary Vocational Education Committee, served on the board of St Ailbe’s School in the town and worked hard as Chairperson of the Decentralisation Committee that ensured many jobs came to Tipperary Town which add to life in the town to this day.

On the afternoon of the 12th, the day before the funeral, a Special Tipperary/Cahir/Cashel MD meeting was convened where tributes flowed to the  former  Independent councillor - who served for almost two decades from 1991 onwards.

Former TDs Seamus Healy and Tom Hayes attended along with numerous former and current  councillors . 

Beautiful tributes were paid to Christy with  memories recalled highlighting his personality and politicial achievements. 

At the meeting  his friend Seamus Healy said:  “I’d like to thank the council for organising this meeting and I want to express my condolences to the Kinahan family. 

“I met Christy over 50 years ago in December 1973. Christy had recently returned from England and he was about to start his political career. He was selected to the Urban District Council in May of the following year, 1974. 

“He gave 36 years, almost four decades, service to the town and county and I suppose west Tipperary generally.

“I suppose he will be remembered fondly for a number of different campaigns. Someone referred to the Kickham Monument, that was certainly one side of Christy.” 

He went on to say that Christy chained himself to the monument in the town one Saturday,  adding  that Christy had many sides to him.

“Another side to him was his ability to work with all stakeholders which he showed with his Chairmanship of the Decentralisation committee.”

He said that Christy’s ability was crucial to the success and implementation of Decentralisation: “He worked with everybody right across the board politically, officially and at local and national level,” he said. 

Recent LEA poll-topper John O’Heney said that he would try adapt the same approach Christy had to his work while former Tipperary Town Clerk Paul Murray spoke of how his work on Decentralisation echoes to this day. 

Councillor Roger Kennedy said at the meeting that Christy’s daughter Jacqui was very pleased that her father could be honoured in such a way. She kept on the family political tradition and she ran for Fianna Fáil in the recent elections for the Cashel-Tipperary LEA.

Cllr Kennedy reflected on his memories too: “The group that turned out today to pay tribute to Christy is a stark reminder to all of us of the esteem in which he was held and the great regard people he served with had because of his sincerity, his dedication and his abilities.

“He wasn’t someone who was on the council for the sake of being on the council. He was on the council because he felt there was so much he could achieve on it,” Roger said.

He continued to recall Christy’s political career: “In all his battles at the Urban District Council he contested the County Council on three occasions unsuccessfully in 74, 79 and 85. The first two as a member of the Labour Party and the third one as a member of the Workers Party. In 1991 he was elected as an Independent,”  said Roger who served with Christy on the council from 2004 to 2009. 

“As a newcomer at that stage I was always interested in analysing the other councillors there and Christy was somebody who had a very strong viewpoint on certain topics. When he had a viewpoint on it everybody listened. If he had nothing to say he just shut up. That is a great sign of somebody who doesn’t have time for the sake of talking because the business of a council is trying to be confined into a couple of hours and you have so much business to get through.”

Cllr John Crosse said that the meeting was very appropriate and that he too had fond memories: “As a young man myself, when I came into the council, I served with Christy from 2004 to 2009 and I suppose I always felt a little bit intimidated by a giant like Christy Kinahan. Former Councillor Michael Maguire and Michael Fitzgerald were his two anchors and they were his two main advisors when big decisions were being worked through. 

“They were always part of Christy’s bigger picture,” he said before continuing: “His biggest legacy would have to be Decentralisation.

“He championed that to a very successful end. The swimming pool in Tipperary Town, the Tipperary Hills, and The Tipperary Bypass were all projects of his that are still going strong. He worked in Tipperary Co-Op and he represented the workers down there with great aplomb so I want to compliment him on that. He was a man of many talents and broad issues ,and he had a broad mind. I suppose you need that to be a representative of the people. 

“He was a family man as well as a man of the community.”

Christy Kinahan was predeceased by his wife Fiona, and is mourned by his daughters Siobhan and Jacqui as well as his family and a large circle of friends.