Maureen Friel made London her home and was well known for her work in Irish Centres

The death was announced recently in London, England, of Mrs Maureen Bridget Friel, who hailed from Narabane, Kilmacow.

Maureen was the youngest daughter of Jack and Catherine Dowling - her father was the local and popular postman in the district for years.

Maureen became a resident of London when she emigrated, like many of her generation, in the early 1960s. There the Kilmacow native worked in various positions and became involved in the London Irish centres.

It was at one of these centres that she met her late husband James Friel. James was a proud Donegal man and they set up their new life together in London, where they enjoyed each other’s company with a rich and long involvement in the Irish Centres. At that time the centres were frequented in their thousands by emigrants from Ireland seeking the songs, music and culture of their native land.

Born into the Ireland of the 1940s Maureen would have attended the local Presentation Convent school and later went on to other schools in the region.

Irish music and song
She was drawn to Irish music and song and was on hand to organise and see that the Irish artists like her favourites, Daniel O’Donnell and Louise Morrissey, were always well looked after. She loved to see them coming and had many occasions with them after their shows in London.

Her regular visits home to Kilmacow to meet family and old friends and also to James’s native Donegal were great occasions for them and her family members.

Maureen had been blessed with great health up to very recent months.
She is survived by her daughter Patricia, her sons Brendan and Stephen, her grandchildren, her in-laws and close friends in London. Maureen was the sister of Pauline Barron, London and Tony Dowling, Newrath, Ferrybank. She is also survived by her sisters-in-law, Margaret Dowling, Anna Dowling, Kilmacow and Kay Dowling, Newrath.

Maureen was predeceased by her brother John, Jim in Narabane and brother-in-law Martin ‘Montie’ Barron, formerly of Kilmacthomas, County Waterford.

Maureen had a beautiful send off. Fr Jerome traced her life back to Ireland and her great and long lasting involvement in the Irish clubs and with the Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford associations as well as her great time spent with the local ladies club in her district. Her family in London were joined by relatives from Kilmacow and also from Newcastle and Birmingham in England. And as her remains left for West London Crematorium, the funeral left to the strains of her favourite artist Daniel O’Donnell’s version of Going Home.

The family here and across the pond would like to sincerely thank all who sympathised and sent letters and mass cards marking Maureen’s passing.
Ar Dheis Día ar a hanam.