Remembering Victor Irwin - a much-loved family man, neighbour, and friend to many

A soft rain fell on the townland of Orbeg near Donegal Town as Victor Irwin’s remains left his home for the final time.

Friends and neighbours from this close-knit community gathered on Tuesday afternoon to bid farewell to Victor, a man greatly loved by all who knew him.

Having grown up next door to the Irwin family, Victor and his wife Kathleen were always part of our lives, and I have nothing but fond memories. 

A legend, a gent, a character, a hard worker, a musician, a man who loved his family and loved his home, who loved to ramble and loved to chat, a farmer who had a great affinity with livestock and land, and most of all, a caring soul with a huge heart.

Those are just some of the things I have heard said about Victor, especially over the last few days, and every one of them is true. 

My family moved to Donegal from Liverpool in the early seventies, and were blessed to have bought a site from Victor in the foothills of the Bluestacks. I was too young to remember ever having lived anywhere else but I know my parents always appreciated the great neighbours we had in Orbeg. 

It made the move to a new town with a young family a lot easier for them.

Victor epitomised all that is great about community spirit, about working together for  everyone’s benefit, about always looking out for other people. 

He did manys a good turn and helped many people out when they had a plumbing or electrical problem, or needed a helping hand for anything, be it making the hay, a day at the bog, farming, putting up outside lights at wake houses; whatever was needed, Victor would find a way to make sure it was done.   

Our lives were richer for knowing him and I have no doubt that he will be spoken of with great fondness for many years to come.

Early Life

Victor was born on July 6, 1945, in Donegal Town to parents Thomas and Louisa Irwin. One of four siblings, his sister Margaret Killick lives in Manchester. His brother Richard (Dickie) died when he was a boy, and his other brother Norman passed away in 2006.

Young Victor started school at just three and a half, first attending the schoolhouse in Waterloo Place and later Edrim Glebe NS before moving on to secondary school at the Tech in Donegal Town. 

He met the love of his life, Kathleen Patterson from Doorin at a dance in Donegal Town in 1970. The couple were together 52 years and married for 45 years.  

Victor loved his time spent at Kathleen’s home house in Doorin. He later farmed the land there and had a great love for the area, the neighbours there and all the connections. He was like a brother to Kathleen’s sister Alberta as she was a teenager when he started coming to Doorin.  They have many a story to tell and had great fun all through the years.

Children

Victor and Kathleen were blessed with three children, Linda, Joseph and Margaret. Victor was immensely proud of his children and their achievements, and was always on hand to help them in any way he could. 

Being very much a home bird himself, he couldn’t understand why they all wanted to travel so much. Needless to say, he was very content when all three moved back closer to home and he had them around. 

Victor taught Maggie how to drive a tractor, a quad, foot turf at the bog, change a tyre, use a variety of tools and a lot of farming skills.  

He drove Joseph to University in Galway at the start of each year and made sure everything in the house was in working order.  

He taught him how to drive the quad, tractor and car. Joseph has wonderful memories of the ice cream treats they got after a day of farming the sheep in Doorin.  

Victor helped to teach Linda how to drive and the day of the driving test he drove the test route to make sure there were no major obstructions. 

Linda fondly recalls how, when she was buying her first home, her dad came along to all the house viewings with her to cast his expert eye on the plumbing and electrics.

One of his proudest moments was walking Linda down the aisle in Killymard Church in September 2019.

Work

Victor’s early working life brought him to England where he worked on a building site. 

On returning to Ireland, he worked for the ESB and also forged a career as a plumber, a field in which his services were much sought after in the wider Donegal Town area.  

He loved farming and was very much in his element being out on his tractor - and later, his quad - singing and whistling as he went up the hills. His family say he loved the freedom of farming the land. 

Victor had a mobile shop for a time, selling groceries and sweets.

He was known to a generation for his time spent driving the school bus for students from Scoil an Linbh Íosa, the Abbey Vocational School and taking children and adults with special needs to St Agnes Day Centre and Cill Aoibhinn. He drove the bus from 1990 to 2010, and those who he ferried to school all have great memories of ‘Victor’s Bus.’

His daughter Linda said: “He enjoyed working with children and all of the children including the children with special needs enhanced his life as well as him enhancing theirs.  

“He knew all the children by name and enjoyed their daily conversations.”

Indeed, Victor had a great rapport with children. The family has maintained strong bonds with many children that Kathleen was childminder for over the years. 

Sean McGarrigle was like a grandchild to him and they went everywhere together.  Sean helped him with the farming and to plaster.  Victor gave him a small trowel and they would spend hours plastering walls and working outside.

Grandchildren

His own grandchildren, Joshua and Ryan were very fortunate to have such a good grandad and he enjoyed spending time with them very much.  They brought great joy to his life over the past five years and Victor enjoyed taking them out on the farm and on his quad.  

Victor’s caring spirit extended to all generations. He was very kind to his elderly mother who lived with him at Orbeg.  In 1990 when his father-in-law Albert Patterson became unwell both Albert and Lily also came to Orbeg to stay.  After Albert passed away Lily moved into Orbeg and Victor built on a bedroom for her.  She stayed there until she passed away in 1996 and Victor was very kind to her. 

He was also extremely  sociable and loved to ramble. His own home was always very welcoming and manys a topic was debated around the comfort of the stove. 

Victor had a sharp  mind and a great head for mental arithmetic and remembering dates, names, places and life events. 

He learned accordion by ear and became an accomplished musician, playing at birthday parties, family events, local functions and in neighbours’ houses. 

Victor found a new appreciation for life after suffering two heart attacks and having a near death experience in 2011. 

He took to walking the roads of the area to improve his health and this became a big part of his daily routine. 

Victor suffered a stroke in January 2020, and was hospitalised at Sligo University Hospital Stroke Unit and Medical North, Letterkenny University Hospital Rehabilitation Unit, and Donegal Town Community Hospital where he was cared for from March 2020 to September 1, 2021. 

The Irwin family thanks everyone involved in his care at that time. 

They also extend a heartfelt thanks to  Dr Kardos, Dr Blair and Dr O’Doherty from the Old School Surgery in Waterloo Place and to the carers who looked after him at home from September to December 2021, in particular the community nurses who visited daily,  to the palliative care team at Sligo and Donegal community care, and to Rev David Huss for all his support.  

The Irwins are very grateful to have had such great support over the last two years. 

Throughout his illness, Victor's devoted wife Kathleen visited him daily in hospital and cared for him with great love during his last four months at home. 

During Covid restrictions, she made daily window visits to the hospital. 

Throughout their lives, Victor and Kathleen went everywhere together, enjoying nights out and day trips away. 

Anywhere they went they would go into a café for a nice cup of tea and a scone.  They were very close and Kathleen has lost her life companion.

Victor was laid to rest in Edrim Cemetery on Tuesday afternoon following a Funeral Service at Killymard Church, Ballydevitt.

Deepest condolences to Kathleen, Linda, Joseph, Margaret, Aiden, Joshua, Ryan, and all Victor's extended family.