Sir, – I am writing to let readers of your letters page know of the recent death of one of its long-time contributors – PN Corish – who has signed off in his 100th year. Patrick Nicholas (to rend the veil of anonymity at last) was a lifelong reader of The Irish Times.
He even admitted to stopping the wedding car, between the church in Raheny and the reception in the Gresham, in order to nip in and pick up that day’s edition. As it happens, the 70th anniversary of Paddy’s marriage to his beloved wife, Carmel, was celebrated in The Irish Times’s personal columns only a few weeks ago.
Paddy had the paper delivered to his home for decades and went through the meticulous daily ritual of carefully folding and refolding it before reading it propped up in front of him at breakfast.
Over the years, he submitted occasional pen and paper letters to the editor but it was only when he was armed with an iPad in his mid-80s that he became a regular contributor.
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An engineer by profession, Paddy was never intimidated by new technology. The subject matter of his letters was diverse, sometimes serious, though often offbeat. He delighted in wordplay and curious turns of phrase. His offerings were usually succinct and could be pointed.
Right up to the final days of his life in mid-May, Paddy retained a keen interest in news of the world around him, ready to discuss the bye-elections in Dublin Central and Galway West, UK prime minister Keir Starmer’s latest travails, or the prospects for the Trump-Xi summit.
Always an active citizen, he was pleased to have been able to exercise his right to vote one last time in last October’s presidential election. No doubt, he would have liked to live to receive the Centenarian Bounty and a letter from our new President but it was not to be. I mbaclainn Dé go raibh a luí. – Yours, etc,
RC CORISH,
Glasnevin,
Dublin 9.
