Bundoran mourns the passing of Mary Faulkner of the Fox's Lair
She was very creative and she could turn her hand to anything, from dress making, gardening, to interior design and decoration
The communities of Bundoran and south Donegal have been greatly saddened following the death last week of Mary Faulkner (née Haugh), late of the Fox's Lair, Church Rd, Bundoran and surrounded by her loving family at Sligo University Hospital.
The deceased, along with husband Brendan, were the quintessential team that made the Fox’s Lair an enduring and continuing success, further embelishing its reputation as one of the best known and popular restaurants in the wider north west area.
At her Funeral Mass, at the Church of Our lady, Star of the Sea, located just a short distance from where Mary lived and worked, it was recalled how her strong work ethic and hospitality was always centrally focused on the many loyal and returning customers and patrons that the family hosted and served for many years.
Fr Jeremiah Munyoki C.C. told the large gathering of mourners that we spend much of our lives working and the way that we regard work is very important.
“If our work has meaning, it becomes a blessing, if it has no meaning or very little meaning, it becomes a curse. It is not actually death that frightens people most, it is a life without meaning,” he said.
“And in Mary’s case it was her work as a restaurant owner which gave her that meaning in life, throughout her many years at the Fox’s Lair.
“She was very creative and she could turn her hand to anything, from dress making, gardening, to interior design and decoration, as evidenced during November and also the Christmas celebrations where she used to put everything in order,” he recalled.
“She also found more meaning and happiness in life by being a mother; Brian was her world, the apple of her eye.”
Fr Munyoki spoke of her motherly joy when she first observed him in his paramedic uniform.
He also recalled with fondness the patience of husband Brendan, who while the excellent chef, would sometimes find himself getting an order from Mary, for something that was not actually on the day's menu, his natural reaction being met with the retort that he was acting like Gordon Ramsey.
Mary had found his vocation in life, whilst others spent their lives trying to figure out where they might fit - first as a nurse and later with the Fox’s Lair, he explained.
He spoke of the vagaries of such a profession; keeping the customer happy and how Mary was able to navigate the needs of those customers, or as he said, “waking up in the morning to go and do that which you love”.
He added: “And that was Mary waking up and doing what she loved” combined “with the virtue of patience”.
He noted Mary’s charitable disposition, which was another side of her character, that was a reflection of how she deeply cared, at a very fundamental level, for her fellow citizens and those less fortunate in life, and in her own small way, “making life a better place to live in”.
Mary was the beloved wife of Brendan and adored mother to Brian. Deeply regretted and will be forever missed by her loving family, her sisters, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, her uncle and all her nieces, nephews, relatives, neighbours and friends to whom deepest sympathy extended.
Mary died a peaceful death on December 12. Following Mass of the Resurrection on Thursday afternoon, December 14, at the Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea, Bundoran, burial followed afterwards in St. Ninnidh's Cemetery, Newtown, Bundoran.
May her gentle soul rest in eternal peace.