*Carmel Russell McGann.
WHEREVER she went Carmel Russell McGann made a lasting impression and as such it came as no surprise that thousands of mourners have been paying their respect since her untimely death on Monday morning.
Authentic, colourful, honest with a razor-sharp wit, Carmel had an innate ability to lift spirits and automatically improve someone’s day simply by being in her presence.
Therefore her passing has brought with a collective sense of sadness across the county as a true character is no longer among us. Her send-off was testament to the esteem in which she was held and will hopefully be of some comfort to her soulmate Derek, her beloved children Rachel, Steven and Chelsea, their partners Robbie, Olivia and Angelo, her treasured grand-children, Bonnie Mae, Archie, Arya Winter and Ellissa Rue, her sisters Anne Marie, Alice and Patricia, brother Paraic, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, uncles, aunts, extended family, neighbours and incredibly wide circle of friends.
As the life and soul of the party, Carmel lit up any room that she entered and upon returning to her native Clarecastle, the village and its surrounds were out in force on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning for what has been described as one of the biggest attendances for a funeral in Clarecastle and Ennis in recent years.
Returning to Clarecastle for her funeral and burial at SS Peter and Paul’s Church and Clarehill was one of Carmel’s last wishes along with ensuring mourners wore bright colours, to have a wicker basket and a fully charged phone. The ninety minute service on Thursday was filled with laughter and tears.
In a moving eulogy, her husband of thirty one years since March 17th Derek acknowledged the overwhelming support and generosity experienced by the McGann and Russell families in recent days which has resulted in “overflowing” fridges belonging to their neighbours and so much food that even the packed church would struggle to get through it at a collective picnic. He voiced gratitude to Ann Howard for organising the mass, Fiona Vaughan for decorating Carmel’s hair, Fr Pat Malone for the service, Monica for the music and undertaker Daniel Kennedy for his professionalism. Derek said, “Last Monday my soulmate left me, we were attended to by the ambulance service within five minutes, I cannot thank them enough, they struggled and did everything they could”.
He recalled, “last September Carmel was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, as the consultant said ‘from that day forward your life changes and this is your life’”. The oncology department in Limerick was where they met some “amazing people” and nurses of all ages took a shine to Carmel.
Roots in the village of Clarecastle were important to Carmel, Derek noted. “I’m trying to think of words to describe Carmel but there isn’t any adjective suitable, the most fitting would be black and white in nature, heart, body and soul, she was a Clarecastle woman through and through and she let that be known”. He recalled her happy upbringing which included going to primary school in the village and then “she ventured onto several secondary schools in Ennis, I don’t think the exact reasons for the transfers will be known but she made lifelong friends from those schools”.
Sean’s in Clarecastle was where Carmel’s hairdressing career began before she moved to Kilkee. “It suited her because it gave her a chance to gossip and engage with people because she was a people person, I’m not really sure if people came to get their hair done or talk to Carmel”.
After returning from West Clare, she began working in Ennis and on one night out the future soulmates had a chance encounter. “We bumped into each other in the Queens Hotel and we’ve been together ever since, it was a chance meeting but a faithful meeting”. Opposites attracted when it came to Carmel and Derek. “People didn’t think we’d last, chalk and cheese didn’t come close to it but at the same time we fitted together like a jigsaw, two sides of the same coin”.
Together they welcomed their first child Rachel in January 1990. Their first family home was in Fergus Park where Carmel’s tennis games helped bring a sense of community. On one trip to Mayo, she turned to Derek and gave her suspicions that she was pregnant, in November 1994 their family grew with the arrival of Steven, “Steve came out at 10’6 and Patty said ‘if that’s premature I’d hate to see what he’d be like at full-term, then Chelsea came along and she couldn’t be more different to the other two but our family was set and we lived there for thirteen years”.
Changing professions from a hairdresser to a childminder was “right up Carmel’s street,” Derek reflected. “She wasn’t minding children but family members because they became family, and we went on holidays with them”. They later moved to Oakleigh Wood and it became their “beautiful family home” and where their family grew further with the arrival of grandchildren, Bonnie Mae, Archie, Arya Winter and Ellissa Rue.
Passionate support of Clare hurling saw Carmel disappear for a stint in 1995. “When Clare got rid of Biddy Earley she disappeared for a week which was fair enough, I got notified of her location when I walked into the shop and on the front of The Cork Examiner was Carmel hanging out of the team bus, she injected herself into everything,” Derek quipped.
Family was number one for Carmel. “There are not enough words to say how she felt about our three lads, our door was open to everybody but her heart and soul was in our three lads, she raised them to be three fine people, we are so proud of everything ye are, she loved the bones of ye”.
Finishing his eulogy to a standing ovation, Derek remarked, “an adoring nanny, a proud and loving mum, a beautiful and long serving wife, a dedicated and loving sister, a devoted and loyal friend, the world loved her and she was the world, the crowds are a fitting tribute to the most wonderful beautiful person I ever met, darling we love you”.
Gifts brought before the altar as symbols of Carmel’s life included a Clare waist coast and a Clarecastle jersey which showed her love of hurling but also as her son Steven outlined, “when it came to Mam there was never a truer saying than you take the girl out of the parish but you can’t take the parish out of the girl despite her many years living in town”.
A cookbook and murder mystery was an ode to her affection for a good story “the telling and the reading” plus her love for feeding people, “if her kitchen could talk it would tell some story worthy of a book itself and if it became a movie Mam would of course be played a younger Julia Roberts,” he quipped.
Always the first on the dance floor, Carmel sometimes “needed physio and a Sat Nav to get back from concerts,” Steven said. A bodhran and an AC/DC CD were brought before the altar to show her love for music.
A make-up bag showed the colour in Carmel’s life and also the manner in which she kept her hairdresser Fiona on her toes as to which colour she would like her hair to be. “She took pride in her appearance, she of course became best friends with her hairdresser and friends with those who did her nails, her tan and her make-up, if you did Zumba or yoga with her she made you laugh”.
Her own sporting prowess was remembered when a soccer ball came before the altar. “She had fantastic co-ordination or so we were told,” said Steven. “She became our super supporter and at that she supporter us both on and off the pitch”.
Photos of family demonstrated her loyalty and love for them. “It is hard to imagine this level of love could meet new height given how much she loved Dad and her children but it did with her grandchildren, they became the centre of her life”. Acting as “a lifeline to those who loved her” was her phone and it allowed her to communicate with her numerous friends, her career as a hairdresser and a babysitter was marked with the presence of a toy hair-dryer.
“Over the last few days, there have been so many people claiming Mam as their best friend, her door was always open, she treated everyone with respect, she was always quick to say thanks and she could see when people needed help. Her kindness was not limited to people, the amount of stray dogs that arrived at our house is testament to how much she liked helping,” Steven added.
Fr Pat Malone was the chief celebrant, he was also a long-time friend of the Russell family, he baptised, christened and confirmed Carmel while he was also the celebrant for her wedding to Derek three decades ago. He remembered Carmel as someone “full of life, colourful to the extreme, she was able to suck people into the emotion and presence of where she was”. “It is a difficult task to speak about anybody in life but how does anybody try sum up someone with as much life as Carmel,” he pondered.
Faith was important to Carmel observed Fr Malone who said even the presence of rosary beads in her hands was an example of ‘the beads doing the praying for her’.
Personality saw people warm to Carmel immediately, Fr Malone said. “She was outgoing, she was fun loving, she had a massive personality, she didn’t like the soft entrance, it was always a grand entrance, she was intricate, she was quirky but everyone loved her, she is one of two people I’ve met in my live who could say anything and get away with it, it was all taken in the greatest sense of humour”.
Behind her depth was “kindness, sincerity and an extraordinarily ability to tune in especially for people who could be forgotten or children, she had a great value for what she had in life for her family, friends and an ability to live life, she loved people and banter, if you walked down the street in Ennis & Derek had this experience every Saturday, a two minute walk took an hour, there was no speeding her up, the only person she tried up was me at mass”. He added, “She brought so much humour, when I think of her doing Pilates or Zuma I’ve great sympathy for her instructor but I bet that experience made the class”.
Her hair colour suited an emotion or an occasion. “She often suggested a colour for my hair, she then said you’re gone past it and I’m not a miracle worker because I hadn’t enough hair,” the parish priest flagged. “She was never envious, it was a lovely characteristic, I saw her with friends, no matter what her friends had or achieved, she never grudgingly applauded, she rejoiced joyfully because she was content in who she was herself and she could live the personality she was”.
Family was above all number one in Carmel’s life, Fr Malone said. “Her family were the most important people to her, she loved her family, each one cherished and given a special word of appreciation, she had a great knack of a very good mother, each one thought they were the most special, the gift of having each one cherished and valued for what they could do, it extended to the grandchildren, they so much a part of her and her life”. Bravery and courage was shown by Carmel in facing her cancer diagnosis, Fr Malone said, this was inspired by her love for her family and friends.
Referencing the special bond between Carmel and Derek, Fr Malone said, “She didn’t move very far in life because her age was very young. Derek was the love of her life, when ye met I’m sure people said this won’t last, this is a fling, I can’t think of people who are so different, ying and yang, you had it and the blending of the two of you we’re a wonderful match for each other, you gelled so well because of love. There was something more, it was the space you gave to each other to be one another. In a relationship whether it is friendship, the ability to allow other person to be the person they are and meet in that same space which is embracing and loving”.
Concluding his address, Fr Malone touched on Carmel’s ability to walk down the street in Ennis or Clarecastle wave or shout at someone and lift their mood. “We say farewell here today to a beautiful person, a person full of character and colours, outrageous yet full of charm, she blended the quirky and loving nature in her life to all she met. We have the bodhran, it’s a long way from the bodhran to AC/DC but she was able to blend all of those things. We often say someone will be missed, when we say it of Carmel Russell McGann it is so true because she will be missed by so many”.
At her grave in Clarehill, a beautiful rendition of Coldplay’s ‘Fix You’ was sung by Sixmilebridge musician Fionn Hayes as a white dove was released into the sky with Carmel’s ability to make people laugh coming to the fore once more when AC/DC’s ‘Highway to Hell’ was played.
Carmel’s death was also referenced at this week’s meeting of the Ennis Municipal District by Cllr Mary Howard (FG) who later told The Clare Echo, “No matter where you met her when you saw Carmel towards you it made you break into a smile, she had a massive heart, she had a great sense of fun and devilment. She was a very thoughtful and kind person, she radiated fun and energy. As well as that sense of fun, she had a sense of loyalty, once you were her friend then you were her friend for life. The crowds that have come to say goodbye to Carmel were a testament to the people that knew her and how much she meant to people, I knew it would be one of the biggest funerals we’ve seen in a while and she deserved every bit of the great send-off that she got”.
