Mrs Rachel Winifred English

WINNIE was the youngest of a family of seven, four boys and three girls, to parents Samuel and Rachel Catherwood, both deceased, of Aughlisnafin, Castlewellan.

She grew up in a farming environment and attended Aughlisnafin National School.

She was born on February 14, 1925, and was married on September 8, 1943, to James English, Clanvaraghan, Castlewellan. She had a long and happy marriage and was predeceased by him since July 1978.

She lived most of her married life in Clanvaraghan, helping on the farm and working behind the scenes in the family business of running a rural country pub — English’s.

Family life was very important to Winnie. 

She was predeceased by two children and the eldest of these, Gladys, died at the tender age of three-and-a-half years. She was blessed with six more children — Rachel, Annie, Jim, Violet, Evelyn and Ruby. 

In the early 70s Winnie and her late husband, Jim, retired to Newcastle, where she remained until recent months, when ill health forced her to have respite in King’s Castle Nursing Home, Ardglass. 

She was a very independent person and lived alone in her home until hospitalisation just before Christmas.

Winnie was a caring, loving and generous mum to all her family. She was also very generous to her church.

She loved the friendship of all the different generations and had  a strong bond with her nine grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

She had a droll sense of humour and loved going to sequence dances with ‘the girls’ into her late 80s, just to sit and watch. Gardening was her passion and she was blessed with green fingers — her garden was always like a show garden and much admired by passers-by in her avenue.

The onset of dementia in latter years was acknowledged with good grace and she didn’t complain too much.

She reached her 91st birthday in February and was able to celebrate it with family and friends at King’s Castle.

She had a long and fulfilled life and she died peacefully on April 7, 2016, at the nursing home, with all her family by her side.

She was buried in the family graveyard at Kilmegan Parish Church.

The large attendance at the home and at the church was testimony to the high esteem in which she was held by her family, friends and the community.