*TJ McGuinness with his son Fionn. Photograph: Ruth Griffin.
FEAKLE’s finest, TJ McGuinness was laid to rest on Saturday with his funeral noted as one of the most colourful seen in the county.
Tunes stemmed from the musicians at Smyth’s Funeral Home in Feakle on Friday night as thousands of mourners paid their respects while there was fireworks as later that night before his coffin made its way on a horse-drawn carriage.
They were unrivalled scenes for a one of a kind character who always made an impression on those he encountered, through his colour, wit and decency. He died on March 18th, a day after his sixty sixth birthday.
In 1985, TJ set up The Food Emporium now located on Francis Street in Ennis which has been run by his sons Fionn and Ronan since he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Prior to this, TJ operated Abbey Meats on Abbey Street in the county town. TJ worked in France in the 1970s for what was the French equivalent of Bord Bia TJ worked in France in the 1970s for what was the French equivalent of Bord Bia and as a chef at the gourmet restaurant La Ferme Irlandaise in Paris.
Brian Nugent, a great friend of TJ’s told The Clare Echo that the crowds witnessed for TJ’s funeral matched that of former musician and TD, Bill Loughnane. “Everyone knew TJ, I didn’t see such a queue since Bill Loughnane’s funeral in Feakle. It went on for the weekend, he wanted his life celebrated and he made that clear. He got a great send-off, he even had a horse-drawn carriage to the church, it is weird to say it but it was an extraordinary weekend, it was unreal the weather shone for three days, everybody had a party to celebrate his life, that is the way he wanted it and how the two boys wanted it too”.
During Saturday’s funeral mass at St Mary’s Church in Feakle, symbols brought before the altar included TJ’s chef jacket as an ode to his love for cooking and bringing people together through food, his horse shoe and helmet, a captain’s hat, a Sunday Miscellany book and a family photograph.
Celebration of TJ’s life not commiserating his loss was a big focus over the weekend, Fionn explained. “Dad left the world in a better place than he got it, his is a life to be celebrated not commiserated, he had the style, the speed and the stamina to pull off the job and he did usually anyway”.
Speaking at Saturday’s mass, Fionn recalled how TJ’s creativity was evident in so many situations. “I remember in 2008, Munster were playing the All Blacks and he said ‘right that will be a great match, we’re going to go to that’, I asked him did he have a ticket and he said ‘Na let me worry about that’ so we get to the ticket stile and he goes up to the guy at the gate and points at a fella and says ‘my friend in the ticket box told me I could get in for free’, Dad gives the man the thumbs and this man was confused but gave the thumbs up back and in we got in just in time see Munster do the Haka to the All Blacks, that is just one example of his character. He was an amazing person, we are trying our best to deliver for him as he would have done for us”.
Stories about TJ are “legendary,” Brian noted while referring to how he was always outgoing and colourful, “He saw no opposition to anything, he even set up the St Patrick’s Day parade in Feakle”.
Brian added, “His wife Brenda died in 2002, she was a Kildare woman from Castledermot, she was very popular here, she was one of God’s own people, TJ always spoke of her, since she died TJ could never go to Dublin without calling to see her family, he never forgot his roots. He loved old people and machinery, he was a hoarder, nothing was thrown away. If you showed TJ a cow house, he could make it into a ballroom, he was so creative, he was a top class chef, from thinking outside the box and using what he had in front of him, he was so imaginative. He loved Feakle, he used to do old folk parties, he had savage respect for the past and the old people of the past, the tradition, the stories and characters, he kept the characters of Feakle alive by telling their stories”.
Fr Brendan Quinlivan described TJ’s life as “rich and beautiful”. He stated, “The truth is we write the history of his years not necessarily in terms of his accomplishments but in terms of the incredible relationships that are fostered and manifested so clearly by the great numbers present last evening and again today”. He added, “TJ was always full of mischief, banter and teasing”.
According to Fr Quinlivan, TJ was “one of the most child-like humans I knew” and was always conscious of the needs of other people. “TJ was certainly open to everyone, above all from my experience of TJ he had that wonderful child-like sense of curiosity about people, places and things, conversation with TJ was always an adventure of discovery, an ability to see things around him that needed to be addressed and to take action”.
On countless occasions, TJ led the way in uniting Feakle and the wider East Clare community, Fr Quinlivan noted. “A number of years ago, the late Dun Purcell was concerned about people who had lost partners in life and the challenges of rural isolation in a community like Feakle and those communities around, when he wanted to do something the first person he thought of was TJ who of course himself had lost the love of his life, it was not just something for old people but that whole movement of looking forward, embracing the entire community, brought people together and gave them a source of strength”.
St Patrick’s Day parade returning to Feakle was led by TJ who landed down at the parochial house to inform Fr Quinlivan over two decades ago of his plans which saw him arrive with a tractor, trailer and an armchair on top of the trailer with Fr James O’Brien appointed grand marshal. Samples of whiskey were provided “to fortify Fr James for his arduous trek along the roads of Feakle, always thinking of others”.
Through The Food Emporium, TJ shared his passion for food. “One of the other traits of TJ that I always loved was that he had that wonderful child-like sense of wonder, especially when it came to his chosen profession, he wasn’t just a cook or a chef, he was an artist, he was something of a genius, he was a front of house man, bringing people together and when he spoke about food, believe me at the time I could deeply identify with his passion not as a chef but as a consumer of his product, when he talked about cooking and flavours you could see the eyes dancing in his head, it was his passion but it was a passion he never kept to himself and that he wanted to share with others when he catered for so many events and through his work at The Food Emporium throughout the whole county of Clare and beyond,” said Fr Quinlivan.
“He had that child-like sense of adventure of wanting to sail the seas of threatening the Queen Mary at a harbour in Thailand by sailing round with a tricolour flying high, always the Republican was TJ, that sense of adventure also stretched into his professional life bringing all sorts of exotic foods to Feakle and showing that real coleslaw tasted well not the stuff you got in tubs and tins but the stuff he made himself, he even gave me a taste for sushi.
“I have to say he had that wonderful child-like sense of hope, children are always filled with hope and they always believe what we tell them, that there is a promise and something better coming, that there is something for them in the future, TJ had that and experienced it, he faced one of the greatest challenges when he had that indescribable loss of his beloved Brenda, I know many people worried about him that a little piece of himself went but he dug down deep and over time recovered that sense of hope for a better future, he saw that hope in Ronan and Fionn, he lived his life for you, for what you become and what you could be, I know he would be proud that you continue his legacy in The Food Emporium,” he added.
He continued, “All of us in the last thirteen months have marvelled at his courage, determination and hope in the face of his illness, the last time I met him was at the opening of the public space at Cnoc na Gaoithe in Tulla, there was a moment when I saw a flicker of sorrow but it vanished as soon as it appeared, he fought so hard and was so determined that the sense of hope never left his soul or spirit, it is in that spirit what we gather today. He also had the child-like sense of understanding the opportunities, he was a devil for salvaging stuff, he could always see promise and opportunity in the things that other people considered broken or rubbish to be thrown and discarded. He looked at something and saw a possibility for it to be a piece of art or a fixture below in the shed in Furnacetown or something else, seeing the brokenness and emptiness in things he could see beyond and what it had potential for and what it could be. I was very struck by the top of the coffin when it came into the church, an empty crate he picked up and written on it is ‘down not nail this leap down, return in good condition or no allowance will be made’. Seeing the potential in what others considered waste or discarded, the things left behind by others were given new life by TJ”.
TJ will be deeply missed by his sons Ronan and Fionn, his sister Mary, his brothers Pat and John, his sisters-in-law Mary and Kay, his nephews and nieces, and many friends. He was predeceased by his beloved wife Brenda, his parents Con and May, his brother Con, his sister-in-law Margaret, and his brother-in-law Graham.
