Volunteer helped thousands

Mary Kenny

A WOMAN who helped thousands of Irish emigrants find work and accommodation died last week.
Mary Kenny, who lived in Camden Road, raised funds and greeted visitors at the reception desk at the Irish Centre in Camden Square, Camden Town, for 50 years. She was 88.
The centre took her in after she arrived in Camden from Dublin shortly after World War II. She never forgot her debt to the centre. Even after finding work as a dining supervisor in a Mayfair restaurant she returned every weekend to help as a volunteer, despite suffering from arthritis in later life.
Friends and colleagues at the centre have paid tribute to her modesty and generosity. Berney Folan, an outreach worker, said: “I remember one time when she was attacked by a robber at the door. The man took a purse from her bag, but she hit him on the leg with her stick and he ran away. She was so pleased with herself.
“Everyone thought that would knock her confidence but she came in the next day as usual.”
More than 200 people attended a funeral mass at the Irish Centre on Friday. The burial took place in Kilbegley cemetery, County Roscommon, on Sunday.
Former director of the centre Father Jerry Kivlehan remembered when Mrs Kenny toured Ireland raising money with Father Jim Butler, director of the centre in the 1960s. He said: “Mary genuinely gave her time to serving the Irish community. No one has done more than Mary to help Irish emigrants. With the passing of Mary Kenny, part of the history of the Irish in London has passed away.”
He added: “Many stories are told about Mary’s fundraising enterprises – the most prominent being her role in the famous Father Jim Butler cycle round Ireland.
“She co-ordinated roadside and town centre collections from her car and caravan. Stories of Mary’s driving on that occasion are legendary. She caused traffic chaos in Drumshambo as she negotiated a sharp corner.”
In a tribute read out by Sr Lucy Troy, director of the Irish Chaplaincy in Britain, Bishop Seamus Hegarty, from the Irish Episcopal Commission for Emigrants, said: “I was saddened to hear the news of Mary Kenny’s death. I met Mary and was very touched by her kindness.
“It was very evident that Mary was a giant at the Irish Centre with regard to our work for Irish emigrants.
“Many of us are passing through but Mary’s commitment was lifelong. She has seen many come and go and has silently and diligently supported us all.
“I know Mary will be honoured appropriately at the centre and in her home parish of Moore in County Roscommon.”
Mrs Kenny is survived by three sisters, Nellie, Margaret and Kathleen, brother-in-law Paddy and numerous nieces and nephews.

TOM FOOT