Lives Lost to Covid-19: Anna O’Faherty – ‘a force of nature’

This article is one of a series about people who have died with coronavirus in Ireland and among the diaspora. You can read more of them here. If you would like a friend or family member included in the series, please email liveslost@irishtimes.com

Anna O’Faherty 1929-2021

Anna O'Faherty spent most of her life in exile, though she lived almost all her days in Ireland. As her son Paul recalled at her funeral last January, "she was the proudest Donegal person you could ever meet. Despite spending 65 years in Wicklow, she never lost her accent. In any conversation and in any place, she had a knack for finding a Donegal connection or sniffing out a Donegal person. While Donegal was her favourite place, a very close second was Greystones – the town she came to love – and her bit of heaven was the seafront."

Described variously as “a force of nature” and “one of the strongest people I knew”, granddaughter Jane also remembers her “impressive reputation” as “a champion bridge player, a current affairs aficionado, a dedicated mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, and a reliable source of advice, whether you asked for it or not!”

Another granddaughter, Susie, in a poem written on hearing of O’Faherty’s death on January 20th, asked:

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"What will we do now? We who have revolved around you since I can remember When we become too world weary and serious."

Born Anna Kane on Friday, March 22nd, 1929, in the east Donegal townland of Cavan, between Stranorlar and Killygordon, her parents were farmers Eddie O'Kane and Mary O'Donnell. She was reared with three sisters, two brothers and attended the local national school.

In 1948 she “emigrated” and began training as a nurse in Dublin’s Richmond hospital, eventually becoming a midwife, cycling around Dublin’s Liberties in the early 1950s. She had so many stories from then.

Then in 1992 her spirit of adventure called and, with four close friends, she spent a year nursing in Jersey before returning to Donegal where she worked at the community hospital in Killybegs. In 1954 her life took an unexpected turn when on a trip to Galway's Salthill she met Donal O'Faherty from Greystones.

They married in September 1956 and she had to give up nursing. She and Donal raised their five children at Minfield on Church Road in Greystones and suffered tragedy with the death in infancy of daughter Catherine in 1961. There was further heartache. A happy life together ended suddenly in 1981 when, shortly after their 25th wedding anniversary, Donal was killed in an accident.

“That was obviously a massive loss to us all but especially to Mum, she had lost the love of her life. Being the strong warrior that she was though, Mum soldiered on, finishing the job of rearing us while creating a new life for herself,” recalled Paul at her funeral. “She was a fantastic mother, hugely ambitious for the five of us and immensely proud of anything we achieved, no matter how big or small. And that continued right up to her dying day.”

Bridge became a big part of her life as a widow and she made a significant contribution to its growth in Greystones. She helped establish the Bridge Centre and founded the Errigal Bridge Club (that Donegal theme again) where people could play on a Friday night. As a bridge player she was fiercely competitive. She continued playing bridge right up to 18 months before she died. In those later years, as her world grew smaller, the garden played a bigger role in her life.

“Mum is now in heaven – in the Donegal section if there is one – reunited with the O’Kane clan and with dad and Catherine,” said Paul at her Covid-restricted funeral.

They took her on one last journey by her beloved seafront in Greystones before burial.