It was a momentous morning in Brackernagh, in the grounds of Quarry House, where 40 years since the opening of the custom build (designed by the late Larry Duffy) Day Care Centre, the team at Ballinasloe Social Services commemorated their past and showcased their new future. The attendees were brought full circle to a giant of Christian generosity and practical hope, Sr. Stan, whose requiem mass was being prayed in Dublin at the very same time. The slender thread of Sr. Stan’s legacy, from the nursery in Kilkenny where it was first piloted under a very far-seeing Bishop, connected all the way through a young Margaret Mansfield (Retired Garbally teacher) who, as Chair of the Board Michael Lally, reminded the gathering, worked for some six years at the Kilkenny Social Services Centre with Sr. Stan before arriving to Ballinasloe. Present today, Margaret set about joining the late Dr. Joe Tarpey’s volunteers in the mid-70s when the concept of services for the disadvantaged was first mooted for our community. Michael and many of the hardworking volunteers remembered fondly Sr. Stan’s visits to the Centre for AGM addresses, invited by Dr. Joe Cassidy, and indeed her other visits down through the years. In delivering the potted history of the Centre, its birth and development, Michael was very keen to remind folks that while Kilkenny had Stan, this community had the backing of the Sisters of Mercy. He noted that it was Sr. John and Sr. Dympna who had started the Meals on Wheels service, and how the order seconded to the Centre as its first Day Centre Manager, Sr. Alacoque, who was also present. Sr. Helena continued the Meals on Wheels service after Sr. John, and Sr. Bridie was also a great support to the local community. The Centre and its services would not have survived the financial crash and the resulting strain on all public budgets in the years afterwards were it not for their continuous generosity. Mentioned too in a special way was the friendship, support and practical assistance through kitchens in the supper room and places in the old Church of Ireland Rectory School where Fr. John Garvey and Rector John Godfrey, as well as the support of so many of their parishioners, were acknowledged. Chair Michael, his Board.
Members current and retired, the current staff, volunteers and supporters gave appropriate mentions to the various aspects of healthcare authorities of the state, from Western Health Board, HSE, Tusla and indeed Galway County Council and Galway Rural Development for their partnering and funding of so many elements of their current and capital developments. Previous Chair Eamon Lally came out of the archive trawl undertaken by Michael as very much a leader who was tone-deaf to the word “no” from any agency of the state in the early years, but especially the Western Health Board officials. On behalf of all connected with the place, he was very humbled that 40 years after the doors swung open on a complex that cost £126,000 and the trustees had a grant of £23,000 from the Health Board and IFI, the group got to formally recognise and pay tribute, in front of his wife Ann and family, to the generosity, work and legacy of the Vocational School Drawing Teacher Larry Duffy. No organisation could have had a more expert, generous, affable, conscientious and creative draughtsman to lead out a major project on what was, for the Board of the day, a journey into the unknown. And he did all of this painstaking, time-consuming, research-demanding work pro bono, free of charge, gifted to this community. To pay tribute to this massive contribution and formally recognise the legacy of Larry Duffy, his wife Ann unveiled a plaque in his honour in the Centre. Social Services Manager Teresa Coughlan, after several HSE and Tusla Regional Managers spoke in very favourable and encouraging terms, noted how happy they were to support and partner the level of compassionate and professional care work being done on the campus. Centre Manager Teresa again thanked all, but especially the people of the town and wider community, who time and time again continually support the work of the Centre. She then outlined the piloting of the Tusla-funded Family Resource Centre and the work the two new staff members – Una Murphy, Co-ordinator, and Teresa Madden, Family Support Worker – have been doing with so many families and young people, in the full ethos and spirit of the Centre. She excitedly informed the event of the welcome news that Galway County Council had secured funding to purchase the house and plot next door and develop it, with interagency support, as a new Family Resource Centre to house the expanding service over the coming years. Finally, the event concluded poignantly with Sr. Alacoque reciting John O’Donohue’s poem “A New Beginning,” accompanied by a talented young local harpist, Jean O’Connor.
