Emer Gaffney: Emer Gaffney, who has died in her late 40s, was co-partner with her husband Dhara Kelly of the Cloona Health Centre in Westport, Co Mayo, which pioneered the idea of health tourism in Ireland when it was first opened in l973 by Sonia Kelly, Dhara's mother.
Set in a converted l8th-century woollen mill in the foothills of Croagh Patrick, Cloona was originally intended as a refuge for Tibetan Buddhist monks, but after they were refused asylum it became a health farm instead.
When Emer, a trained yoga teacher, took over the centre with Dhara in l986, it marked a new phase in which personal and individual care and attention to detail became paramount. At a time when spas and leisure centres are becoming ubiquitous in Ireland, Cloona remains unique and fundamentally true to its founding principles due to the Kellys' commitment. Former British minister Clare Shortt, a regular visitor, described it as "a little retreat without religion".
Daughter of Louisburgh publican Charlie Gaffney and his wife Eileen, Emer was the eldest of their five children. After school she studied science in Trinity College Dublin, but later left for Amsterdam where she did a degree in archaeology through Dutch, which she spoke fluently. During her six years in Holland, she trained as a teacher of yoga and aikido. At home on holidays in l986, she met Dhara who had just taken over the centre from his mother and was looking for a yoga teacher. Later she completed a three-year course in Galway, becoming one of the first generation of qualified yoga teachers to be trained in Ireland. Together they transformed Cloona.
A woman of energy and vitality, passionate and principled about the environment and ideas of holistic wellbeing, she brought personal style and integrity to her work, always insisting on the highest standards and quality treatments rather than the latest in luxuries. An inspiring teacher who wore her spirituality lightly, she eschewed the growing trend for pampering, preferring to centre Cloona around yoga, walks, sauna and massage coupled with a light, organic diet.
Thousands of guests, mostly Irish and many of them repeat visitors, who benefited from the regime will remember her sparkle, spontaneity and sense of fun, coupled with a gift for listening and care for others.
She loved the sea and swam all year round and set up a popular aikido club in Westport. She enjoyed the graceful movements of this non-confrontational martial art. Dancing, particularly salsa, was another passion; both seemed to satisfy a further side of her impetuous free spirit. Up to the last she fought the cancer that ravaged her and even found the energy, despite being wheelchair-bound, to make her last trip in November to Germany, accompanied by Dhara to attend a three-day seminar by John of God, the Brazilian psychic surgeon, fulfilling a lifelong ambition.
She is survived by her husband, Dhara Kelly, and their children, Dervla and Finnian.
Emer Gaffney: born June 1st, 1958, died January 13th, 2006