Ballylinan said farewell to one of the pillars of their community on Christmas Eve with the funeral of Pat Julian, a highly-respected and much-loved man who had given decades of service to the local GAA club in particular.
He was also very well known in the local farming community.
In a social media post, Ballylinan GAA described Pat, their club president, as “a true Ballylinan Gael” whose contribution “throughout his lifetime cannot be quantified”.
“The Julian family have been central to everything that is Ballylinan GAA since our formation in 1926,” said the post.
“Pat carried on the tradition set by his father and served our club in various roles, always striving to better our club in every way.
“Pat served as our chairperson over a number of different terms and under his stewardship our club reached our first senior football final in 1987.
“Pat was also the driving force behind the extension and development of our current club grounds which we opened in 1991.
“Pat was always a dedicated committee member of Ballylinan GAA Club and for many years he was unequalled when it came to the thankless work of selling tickets and raising funds.
“It was Pat’s ability to fundraise that gave us the confidence to embark on the development of our current Clubhouse.
“One of Pat’s greatest GAA achievements has to be passing on to his own children and grandchildren the tradition of service to our Club that he inherited from his father and he was always extremely proud of the contribution his family have made to Ballylinan GAA.”
Pat passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his loving family. He bravely fought and lived with cancer for the last ten years.
He is predeceased by his mother Anne (recently), his sister Mary Walsh and his grandson Eoin.
Pat is sadly missed and lovingly remembered by his wife Sheila, his children Paul, David, Seán, Brian, Linda and Claire, his daughters-in-law Mary Claire, Eva and Áine, son-in-law Conor, grandchildren Patrick, Jack, Jamie, Emily, Jane, Annie, Alannah, Alice, Grace and Laura, his brothers and sisters, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, extended family, friends and neighbours.
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