The mist that shrouded Connemara over Easter week was reflected in the mood of its people as they grieved at the passing of a great and loyal friend. John O'Connor drifted from us, quietly and with profound dignity, on Easter Saturday night. The mountains, rivers and lakes, boglands and valleys stood in solemn splendour as Nature's mourners. The wilderness itself wept for John.
After a long illness bravely borne, John's passing still sent shock-waves through his beloved West of Ireland and to many a far-flung shore. His gentle hands had touched many a life and harmed none.
This fact was evident in the huge attendance at his funeral service. John, who all his life shied away from the limelight, certainly took centre stage on his final journey. From the four corners of Ireland and beyond they stood in the bluster of Connemara winds to bid farewell to one of Nature's gentlemen.
John was a consummate hotelier. His motto was: "Always work from the customer back." Customers' requests and wishes were paramount to the overall success of any venture. In an age where computers rule, John relied on and believed in the honesty of a genuine welcome, a blazing log fire, a homely atmosphere. His sincerity was felt by all those who had the pleasure of his company.
Hoteliers with aspirations to success could do well to take a leaf from John's book. As he said himself: "Get the basics right and work upwards."
John O'Connor was a passionate environmentalist. His love of the Inagh Valley and of Ballynahinch was all-encompassing. The decline of the sea-trout and salmon stocks in the West was a great sadness to him. He diligently chipped away at the ice-face of bureaucratic indifference on behalf of those kings of fish, and it is their eventual return in their former abundance that will be John's rightful legacy.
His 16 years as general manager of Ballynahinch Castle brought this basic country house to its present status as one of the finest hotels in the land. With his gifted wife and best friend, Maire, and a dedicated team, he transformed the fishing lodge at Lough Inagh into the stately manor house hotel of today.
To Maire, his loving children, Sorcha and Dara, his grieving father, Tom, to the O'Connor and O'Morain families and to his extended circle of relatives, we can only say "thank you" for sharing John with us when time was short. It was an honour and privilege to call him "friend".
As Seamus Heaney said of John O'Connor: "He is now a guardian spirit of the place around there."
Tight lines, John!
D.L.