Adrian

Adrian (Aidie) Maria Marsham

Adrian and I first arrived in Lyreacrompane in 2003. We travelled from Tralee to visit our friend Jo who had recently moved into the area. We set out to find her, following her directions to the letter. Well, we did not find her exactly but we found the ‘house’ known locally as Matt Doran’s cottage. The door was unlocked so we went inside to find house martins in residence and no sign of the human occupant. The landscape, though beautiful, was wild and uninviting. We wondered how Jo could live up here. The following year, while visiting again, we looked at each other in amusement as Jo informed us that she was selling the site next to the cottage and that it might just suit us as we were planning to move back to Ireland. I thought the area was too remote but Aidie took a different view and as time moved on we decided to buy the site and take our chances in Lyre.

By 2005 the foundations were down and the die was indeed cast. And so we, the newly wed Mr and Mrs

Adrian Marsham

Marsham, arrived in Lyre, lock, stock and barrel at the end of July 2006.

Unfortunately, the building took much longer than anticipated and we ended up renting a house in Listowel for five months and did not move into our new home until the 3rd of March the following year.

We were very happy to settle down. It was so quite and it took some getting used to but the natives were friendly and we felt at home straight away. Adrian was delighted with the wide open spaces and loved to ramble the roads and chill out. The ancient unspoilt spirit of the place suited him and he felt a sense of belonging to it.

Adrian had already joined the Listowel Folk Group and hardly ever missed a practice session with them on Thursday nights or the folk mass on Saturday nights in St Marys. He managed to get some part time work with the Irish Heart Foundation overseeing the maintenance of their Sli na Slainte walks in Kerry and neighbouring counties. He was also busy studying for his Diploma in Social Integration and Enterprise at UCC.

Adrian had always been very much in tune with his Irish heritage through his mother who came from Tuam in County Galway. The rest of 2007 was spent busily settling in and sorting out the house.

At Christmas we had a gathering of our family for the celebration of the christening of our granddaughter, Mai, at the Sacred Heart church, Lyrea. We had a full house of family, neighbours and friends. It was a very special Christmas.

In the spring of 2008 Adrian started to feel unwell. He was treated in Kerry General Hospital in May. We thought everything was alright and that he would feel better soon. He went in to KGH again in early September where it was discovered that Adrian had a mass in his chest that was later diagnosed as cancer. We prayed for a miracle but it was not to be. After a six weeks stay in hospital he was happy to come home at last. He was just so contented to be back home in Lyrea relaxing in front of the fire; far away from the busy hospital wards.

A few days later he was readmitted to KGH and his gentle soul passed away peacefully in the early hours of October 16th. It was comforting to know that the few days at home in Lyre were a great joy to him. It sustained him for the journey ahead.

Adrian was a planner. He had ambitions and dreams and hopes and aspirations for the future ahead. Life was really only beginning. His childhood was spent amongst the Irish enclave centred around the Sacred Heart Church on Mere Road, Leicester.

He rests now in the tranquil burial ground near the Sacred Heart Church in Lyreacrompane. It was his wish to be buried there. He is, for evermore, a part of beautiful Lyreacrompane as he used to call it.