Tributes paid to a ‘quiet soul’ who grew up in the earliest years of our nation

TRIBUTES have been paid to an Abbeyfeale woman who helped feed generations of West Limerick families throughout the years.

Kitty Cotter (née O'Flynn) of Main Street, Abbeyfeale, passed away at her son Philip’s home and in the presence of her loving family, on Saturday, March 23.

Ms Cotter, who was nearly 104 when she passed, had experienced a great deal of change in over a century of living. Born in May 1920, as one of five sisters, Ms Cotter’s earliest years were lived in a time of historical upheaval.

She would have seen the earliest days of Ireland as a free nation, being born during the War of Independence and growing up against a backdrop of the Irish Civil War, The Second World War, and countless other historical moments that defined the nation.

Ms Cotter was born and raised in O’Flynn’s Restaurant on the main street of Abbeyfeale. The restaurant, which is now over 150 years old, has fed generation upon generation of Abbeyfeale people - and is still open to this day.

At the time, farm-to-table was the norm rather than a luxury selling point and Ms Cotter’s daughter, Maria McCarten, recalls her mother walking up the Hill Road, six or seven miles, to fetch milk and eggs.

“Everything was hands-on. We would have lived in town, but we were very inclusive on the farm. Everything was done ourselves, that’s how it was for her. It was what she knew,” Ms McCarten said.

A quiet soul, Ms Cotter worked “very much in the background in the restaurant”.

Her son Philip Cotter said his mother had a busy life, but a quiet one, often working 11 hours in the kitchen while also taking care of her three children as well as her own mother.

“Her family meant everything to her,” he noted. “It was family, work and that was it.”

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Given the era that Ms Cotter grew up in, she had very interesting stories to tell her children, having witnessed moments of historical importance.

Ms McCarten recalled her mother’s stories of secret meetings being held in the family home during the more turbulent years of Ireland’s history, including one in which Éamon de Valera was present.

Predeceased by her husband Ted and grand-daughter Áine, Ms Cotter will be sadly missed by her sons Jim and Philip, daughter Maria, daughter-in-law Evelyn, son-in-law Jim, grand-daughters Katie, Sorcha, Catherine, Maeve and Michelle, grandsons Fiachra, Aodhan and Cillian, great-grandson Rory, as well as extended family and friends.