Mr Joseph McMcIlmail

Mr Joseph McMcIlmail

10 June 2020

MR Joseph McIlmail, of Crew Road, Downpatrick, died peacefully at home on Tuesday, April 28, at the age of 74.

Joe, as he was known to his family and many friends, was the fourth child of the late John Joe and Margaret McIlmail, from Bright. He was a loving brother to Margaret (Co Kildare), Eileen (Coventry), Jimmy, Mary and the late John.

At the age of 16 he left school and started his apprenticeship as a carpenter/joiner at Ballykinlar Camp for Sintons. After serving his time, he went to work in England in the early 1960s, returning for a period when he met his wife Sylvia, who he married in 1965.

The couple moved to Coventry where Joe continued to work for a few years. They returned to Downpatrick where Joe worked for several well-known local building firms, including Casements, Hugh J O’Boyle and Taggarts, before he commenced his own building firm. Joe was a perfectionist with a great eye for detail and took pride in all the work he undertook. 

Joe had several hobbies. He loved photography and never went anywhere without a camera to capture the moment. He took the official photographs for several weddings, but ever the perfectionist he always worried how they would turn out until they were developed — unlike in today’s digital age.

Many of his interests were connected to the sea and the coast. He enjoyed fishing and always owned a small boat to go on short fishing trips. He also loved joining friends from Strangford and Kilclief on trips to the Isle of Man.

Sailing was another great passion, being a crew member on trips to the Scottish and Irish coast before getting his own yacht on which he and his wife were the only crew. 

Joe loved being in company and valued friendship. He liked meeting up with friends and family and hearing as well as telling a good story. He often couldn’t finish his stories from laughing too much at the memory of what he was going to tell and his laughter was infectious. 

He is survived by Sylvia, sons Joe, Paul and Mark, daughters Margaret and Anne, grandsons Austin, Malachy, Joseph, Eoin, Brian and Jack, granddaughters Natasha and Aimee, great grandsons Callum and John, great granddaughters Scarlett-Grace, Amelia-Rose, Lily and Eva, the wider family circle, friends and neighbours. May he rest in peace.