Funeral of black john takes place in cavan

The funeral takes place this morning in Cavan Town of the well respected Traveller ‘Black John’ Maughan with large numbers of relatives, friends and members of the wider Travelling and settled communities expected pay their respects.

At the time of going to print yesterday (Tuesday) preparations were in place for the St Patrick’s Day removal of John from Townsparks, Cavan Town, who passed away on Monday morning following illness.

Since news of his passing broke, heartfelt tributes have been paid to John by family members and representatives of Traveller advocacy groups.

Originally from Mayo, John moved to the Cavan-Monaghan region as a teenager with his father and grandfather, Tom, who had served in World War II with the Connaught Rangers.

Horses

Known for “turning his hand to anything”, in particular a love for trading and training horses, Mr Maughan stayed in Cavan where he married wife Brigid (nee Mongan), also a native of Mayo.

Together, over the next 50 years, they reared their family of 15 children, seven boys and eight girls, as well as two grandchildren.

The couple count among their family 89 grandchildren, 140 great grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren.

Mr Maughan passed away peacefully on Monday last, March 16, at Cavan hospital following illness.

“He was a great family man. He loved his children and loved having his family around him.

“We were led and said by him,” daughter Jacqueline told The Anglo-Celt on Tuesday. She added that all the Maughan family would like to thank all staff connected to the Oncology Unit at Cavan General Hospital and nurses and staff at Medical 1, who cared for Mr Maughan in his final days.

‘An absolute gentleman’

Ita Madden of the Cavan Traveller Interagency Group said Mr Maughan will be sadly missed.

“He was an absolute gentleman. He drew a lot of respect from people, not just in every community, not just the Travelling community. He travelled and was known the length and the breadth of the country and loved to talk about his experiences. He was a private man, as well, but full of fun,” she said.

Large funeral

Mr Maughan’s funeral is set to be one of the largest the region has seen for many, many years, with family and friends from both the Travelling and settled communities set to pay their respects. The removal by horse-drawn carriage took place from Mr Maughan’s home in Townparks to the Cathedral of SS Patrick and Felim, Cavan, yesterday evening, Tuesday, March 17.

Requiem Mass take places later today, Wednesday, March 18, at 11am, with interment afterwards at Cullies Cemetery.