Living over the shop: Healy’s had the first purpose-built funeral home in the southeast

THIS WEEK I spoke to Cora and Rory Healy of R Healy and Son, Undertakers, whose current business address is Pollerton Castle, but whose roots go back to 1944 in College Street, Carlow.

The business began with Dick (Richard) Healy who, although a baker by trade, saw an advertisement for a hearse for £100 and decided to buy it. Along with Paddy Kelly from Riverside, they started the ‘Healy and Kelly’ undertaking business, storing their hearse in Mick Moore’s garage in College Street, opposite Dick’s family home. Dick later bought Paddy out, and the business became R Healy and Son –- the son being Dick’s only son, Pat.

Dick served his time as a baker in Slater’s Bakery in Tullow Street, later bought by Crotty’s. He worked there for 30 years, eventually rising to the position of bakery manager. Then, along with James Wynne, Thomas Stafford and Dick Carey, he opened a bakery in Montgomery Street, known as the Carlow Bakery, which specialised in wedding cakes and a large variety of breads which were delivered in vans throughout the county. The baker’s day at that time began at 2am and the vans would begin their deliveries at 7am. Unfortunately, the entire bakery was destroyed by fire in July 1976.

However, this setback didn’t mean the end of the business. In the same year, the dormant liquor licence at 40 Tullow Street, formerly Kirwan’s, was renewed by Dick and he reopened the pub at the back of the premises with the bakery operating at the front. The pub traded very successfully under the name ‘Carlow Bakery Co Ltd’ until 1986.

Dick’s son, Pat, had left the bakery in 1962 to go into the insurance business. His motivation was to make money to marry the lady he had met in The Ritz Ballroom the previous year, Cora Lalor, who would become his wife and lifelong business partner.

Over the years, Dick and Pat ran the undertaking business side by side with their other businesses. At that time, funeral services consisted mainly of providing a habit, coffin and a hearse. When people died, they were usually laid out by family or neighbours and wakes would be held in their home. Coffins at that time were sourced from Prendergasts of Evergreen Lodge, who stored large sheets of elm outside their premises and made coffins on demand.

Over the years, the funeral business evolved to include managing everything from the moment of death to the burial, including newspaper notices, rip.ie, priests, singers, flowers and the grave itself. Nowadays, many people are cremated and that, too, is organised by the undertaker.

Gradually, Pat Healy took over the funeral business, buying a premises in Graiguecullen as a warehouse for coffins as well as to house the hearse. In 1973, he bought Pollerton Castle and, after renovations, moved his growing family in. By this time, the Healys had five children, with the last one, Rory, being born after the move.

The castle was built in 1839 as a townhouse for the Browne-Claytons of Browneshill House. It included a large ballroom where they hosted many parties. In more recent years, it had belonged to the Church of Ireland and was divided into apartments. In these beautiful surroundings, Pat and Cora reared their six children, as well as running the funeral and insurance businesses on site. As if that wasn’t enough, Cora travelled to London to do a course in flower arranging, and from then on looked after the floral wreaths for funerals herself!

In 1979, Healy’s built the first purpose-built funeral home in the southeast, which has since been extended to include two large rooms of repose. Their eldest son, Conor, who sadly died prematurely in 2005, aged 40, trained as an embalmer as well as opening his own insurance business. He was a proud member of the British Institute of Embalmers.

Sadness visited the family again in 2013, when second son, Niall, also died, aged 47. Having spent years in England, he had returned to Carlow and was involved with the insurance and funeral businesses as well as working as a barman. These were crushing blows to Pat, Cora and the family and made it very difficult to continue in a business that is so public.

Pat retired from insurance but continued his involvement in the funeral business alongside his sons Eoin and Rory, until his death in 2019.

Discretion is crucial in the funeral business and Rory Healy would not be drawn on things that go wrong from time to time, except to confirm that, on occasion, a hearse has broken down. At times like this, a cool head is needed, and Healys have coped with such mishaps with professionalism, always ensuring that the funeral continues in a dignified manner. The occasional person has also fallen into a grave, but thankfully without serious injury.

When the floods of 1993 blocked transport between Graiguecullen and Carlow, it was necessary for one grieving family to have their loved one transported through the deep waters by trolley as the hearse could not get through.

But the most amazing story happened during the big snow of 1947, when it took a funeral three days to get from Stradbally to Graiguecullen. The road was completely impassable, and nothing could be done until the snow thawed.

Thankfully, most funerals go smoothly and Healys can be depended upon to handle every request with the utmost compassion and professionalism. The business has stood the test of time and looks set to serve the Carlow community for years to come.

This article and others in the series will feature in a book entitled ‘Remembering Carlow’ to be published later in the year. If your family business operated in Carlow for 50 years or more, contact mariaorourkewriter@gmail.com.