Galway doctor gave 'whole life caring for her community'
"I always knew I wanted to be a doctor,” she’d once said, “and I loved every minute of it and wouldn’t have done anything else”.
The life of a rural GP is, to put it mildly, a busy one, but – by her own admission – Nuala Kennedy loved every minute of it. Perhaps the seeds were sown growing up on the doorstep of Baggot Street Hospital, but from an early age she only ever had one career in mind.
And with her passing in May, it was clear that her legacy was that care and attention that she gave to generations of patients around Portumna and South Galway.
"I always knew I wanted to be a doctor,” she’d once said, “and I loved every minute of it and wouldn’t have done anything else”.
Born 91 years ago in Newcastle West, Co Limerick, on February 1935 to Patrick and Kathleen Kennedy, she had four older siblings – Neil, Brendan, Maeve and Loretta.
Their father was in Customs & Excise and the family moved about, eventually settling on Haddington Road in Dublin city centre. Nuala always talked about fond memories of growing up there. She was busy outside of school, a keen swimmer, and Grade 8 piano player, ushered out to entertain any family gathering alongside her sister Lorena.
Baggot Street Hospital was on her doorstep and as a child she would often go there on her own and spend time talking to patients and whoever else she met. This may have been the inspiration for her future career.
In the beginning, her mother wasn’t so sure that being a doctor was a good career choice for a girl and so when Nuala left school she was persuaded to apply for a new course at the time in Cathal Brugha Street College called ‘Dietetics’.
On one occasion during her time there her class mates each prepared soda bread for some American visitors who were being shown around. After seeing what Nuala created the teacher remarked, ‘Nuala, maybe we’ll just hide yours.’
Nuala humoured her mother and completed the first year at Cathal Brugha Street before leaving to start medicine in UCD and follow her chosen path.
She graduated in 1962 and worked in Jervis Street hospital or as she liked to call it ‘our hospital’ as her siblings Neil and Lorena also worked there.
Following this she spent about ten years working in the North of England in various medical roles ending up in a 9-to-5 public health job in Manchester.
By this stage she was married to Frank and was a mother to five - Sarah, Barry, Brian, Frankie and Andrew. The time had come to focus more on family and plan where they wanted to live long-term.
Two GP jobs came up within the Western Health Board, and Portumna and Woodford became the new home for the family.
Nuala loved being a GP, especially being part of a close-knit community, enjoying the various characters, and making a contribution to people’s lives.
She was a kind, gentle soul and a humble person, never drawing attention to her own achievements. Instead, she put her energy and focus on other people and this was a great asset in her work.
Apart from work she could turn her hand to most things, making curtains, knitting, decorating and gardening. She also got pleasure from simple things like the daily crossword.
She was a very present and attentive mother, involved in every aspect of her children’s lives.
Her son Frankie, who has received the most amazing care from the Brothers of Charity in Galway for most of his life, always had a special place in her heart. She really took great comfort in knowing he was so well cared for and would be part of the Brothers of Charity family for the rest of his days.
In retirement, Nuala and her husband Frank took on some new adventures, moving to Bolag in Woodford and spending about ten years there where they enjoyed being part of the community where they had worked.
They made their final move to Oranmore in 2016 to be closer to family and with the help of some great neighbours settled down there in no time.
Nuala lost Frank in 2022 and unfortunately Dementia took its toll in recent years. Her son Andrew reflects that ‘looking back on her life and achievements and even taking into account the dodgy breadmaking she scores ten out of ten’.
Fionnuala Cawley (née Kennedy) died in May 24, at the residence of her daughter Sarah in Tralee. Her Requiem Mass at St. Brendan's Church, Looscaun, was followed by burial in Calvary Cemetery, Portumna.
Predeceased by Frank, she is survived by Sarah, Barry, Brian, Frankie and Andrew, her grandchildren Jack, Emer, Daphne, Anna and Nuala, her daughter-in-law Sharon, extended family and friends