Nora Sammon

Nora Sammon (nee Carney) of Erriff, Liscarney passed away peacefully at her home on December 14.

Nora was born in Tourmakeady in 1933, the second of six daughters of Pakie Carney and Katie Durkan. The family later moved to Bohaun and it was here that she enjoyed happy childhood and teenage years.

She was a good scholar and attended Shraheen National School where she particularly enjoyed the Irish language. She was an advocate of education and was always a great help to have around when it came to homework time.

Like many young people of her age, she worked in England for some years and it was in Hemel Hempstead that she and her husband Peter welcomed their first two children before returning to live in Erriff. She was an exemplary wife and mother and will be remembered as a lady who dedicated herself to the rearing of her family and to the running of her home and farm.

Her favourite part of the farming calendar was the lambing season, she always had a bottle of milk ready for the sick lambs and the cardboard box beside the fire to keep them warm. Many a lamb survived as a result of the top class care they got at Nora’s “clinic”.

People paid many warm tributes to Nora following her death but the most common description of her was “little lady”.

She had a reputation for being “neat as a pin” and always liked to look her best.  She was a great fan of fashion and it was one of her few indulgences apart from her regular trips to the hairdresser.

Nora’s other great love was music, song and dance. Her own mother Katie Carney was a talented musician and their home in Bohaun was always filled with the sound of the accordion. She had a beautiful singing voice and would hum along constantly to the songs on MidWest.  

She was a great dancer and could be found simultaneously dancing and washing the dishes if her favourite programme Céilí House, was on the radio. She was delighted when set dancing classes started in the community centre some years ago and could certainly hold her own in a half set!  In later years, she always enjoyed the “Erriff has the X Factor” concerts performed by her grandchildren to mark family celebrations.

She was a devoted grandmother and her kitchen was always a place of refuge for her grandchildren where care and advice were administered with a side-order of ginger ale, sweets and whatever other goodies she felt were required.  She was a top-class Granny and she would have been proud to see her grandchildren participating in her Funeral Mass.

Nora was a very determined lady and she always did her best for her family. Despite her own fragile health, nothing was to prevent her travelling to Brussels two years ago to see her daughter Mary in her last days. Although broken-hearted, she stayed strong, only falling ill when Mary was finally at peace.

The past two years were difficult for her. Her family were grateful that they could keep her at home throughout her illness and they will always be grateful to the Home Help staff who enabled them to care for her in the comfort of her own home.

She is sadly missed by her husband Peter,  daughters Julie and Angela (London), Frances and Patricia (Australia), Josie (South Africa), Norann (Westport); sons Peader and Sean (Erriff), Padraig and Paul (Westport); sisters Julia, Anne and Eileen (London), grandchildren; great grandchildren and extended family.

Following repose at her home in Erriff, removal took place to the Church of the Sacred Heart Cushlough, where her funeral Mass was con-celebrated by Fr MicheΡl MacGréil, Fr. Kieran Burke, Leenane and Fr. Karl Burns Westport

 She was laid to rest in the adjoining cemetery next to her daughter Mary.

 May she have peaceful rest.  Ar dheis Dé a h-anam.