Sarah Casey (née Brennan) will live on in the lives and memories of her family

The death has occurred of Sarah Casey (née Brennan), in Ditchling Village, East Sussex, England, at the grand age of 101. 

The fourth of the nine children of Mary and Daniel Brennan, Sarah was born in 1923 in Coon West, Castlecomer.  She was laid to rest in Hove Cemetery, Sussex on March 4, 2025, with her adored husband, Martin, who predeceased her in 2007.  Interred with Sarah on the same day, according to her instructions, were the ashes of their beloved son, Tony (Anthony John Gerald) who died and was cremated during the Covid pandemic. They are all now reunited, as Sarah wished.

Sarah went to school in Coon and later to the Presentation Convent in Castlecomer. She loved describing the journey on her bicycle, along the unmade-up roads, whatever the weather, in constant terror of a puncture.  Sarah worked hard at school, and to the end of her life she loved reciting English poets and speeches from Shakespeare that she’d learnt off by heart as a child. 

In 1941, at the age of 17, Sarah left home for Booth Hall Hospital in Manchester, to train as a nurse. She arrived just after the Nazi air raids and the Christmas Blitz which had devastated Manchester city centre the year before. She enjoyed her studies and life in the nurses’ home, with outings to Pendle Hill and the Lancashire countryside, or to the local park for picnics.  Sarah often told us of the beauty of the silver barrage balloons in the skies over Manchester:  a vital means of defence against the Nazi Luftwaffe. 

In 1944 Sarah obtained her nursing medal, and moved South to London, training in paediatrics in the Queen Mary Maternity Wing of West Middlesex Hospital, where she specialised in premature babies. In 1945, when war ended, London was an exciting place to be. There were 30 Irish dancehalls in London at that time, and in one of them Sarah met her husband, Martin, who had just returned from West Africa.

Martin had left his home in County Clare to work in England, and in 1938, alarmed at the spread of fascism across Europe, he had volunteered to fight in the Royal Air Force. When Sarah and he met, he’d just been discharged, having begun the war as a navigator in Lancaster bombers, before qualifying as an instructor.

He sailed to Accra in the Gold Coast (now Ghana) to run the Women’s Royal Air Force signals training school. He often joked about how he’d spent the war on golden beaches surrounded by beautiful woman, and how when he set eyes on Sarah, she surpassed them all.

Sarah and Martin were married in Castlecomer in 1948, returning to North London to begin married life in the house Martin had bought. Then they moved to Luton, where all four of their children were born, and then to Harrow, each time choosing a house that had a garden big enough for Martin to grow fruit and vegetables for his growing family.

When we children were older, Sarah successfully applied for a job at Edgware General Hospital, and immediately learnt to drive, passing her test first time. Sarah loved her time in the maternity ward with fellow nurses from Jamaica, Barbados and Ireland.  Martin and Sarah loved dancing, and nature and travelling. Our parents adored each other. Until the day she died Sarah never stopped talking about Martin in wonder at his kindness, at the way he’d supported her in everything she did, and at the fact that he could do anything. Not only did he grow all our fresh food, but he could mend anything, from an electrical circuit to a lawnmower to a motor engine. He never gave up and he never let anything defeat him. 

When they had both retired, Sarah and Martin moved to Woodingdean, East Sussex, where Sarah developed a passion for swimming – which she learnt by borrowing a book from Brighton Library - and for golf. In this she developed exceptional skill, competing in the Rover Cup.

Sarah and Martin loved visiting pilgrimage sites all over Europe. They followed the Irish Rugby team, and snooker. Sarah was a lifelong fan of Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Soon, they welcomed their grandchildren Ruby Maeve and Fintan Jacob (Finn). After a spell back in Carlow, they returned to East Sussex, this time to Hove, where they threw themselves into the lives of the Parish of St Mary Magdalene, and the Parish of the Sacred Heart. They loved having the time to enjoy their grandchildren.  After Martin’s death, Sarah was sustained by her many friends in the parish and by her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.  

When during Covid Sarah had to move to residential care, she enjoyed her life to the full at St Clare’s in St George’s Park in Ditchling. She loved the beauty of the rural setting and the company of the amazing team of nurses and carers. Incredibly, Sarah taught them many words of Irish, which they loved.

Sarah is sadly missed by all her friends and family. She is survived by her children Maureen (Maude) and Philomena (Phil); her grandchildren Ruby and Finn; her great grandchildren Edie and Thea; her nephews and nieces; great nephews and great nieces in Kilkenny, Carlow and Kildare. There was none like her. She will live on in our lives and in all our memories.