A real air of sadness descended on Killarney when the upsetting news filtered through of the death of Yvonne Quill, the uncrowned queen of the tidy towns project who earned her place in the pages of local history when she led the town to its only overall national award, in 2011.
Yvonne, a great businesswoman, a real motivating force and a undisputed community hero, passed away on Friday following a short illness.
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Pictures: Valerie O’Sullivan
This month 11 years ago, like a Kerry GAA captain bringing home the Sam Maguire cup, Yvonne stepped off a train at Killarney Railway Station and, surrounded by her celebrating colleagues, she held the overall tidy towns competition trophy aloft to great whoops of delight.
A colourful parade through the streets followed and Killarney celebrated like never before as a prize it has unsuccessfully sought for years had finally become a reality.
Since Yvonne took hold of the reins of the Killarney Looking Good Committee, the best part of quarter of a century ago, the town has never looked back in terms of the all-out push for tidy towns success with the focus upgraded from promoting flower baskets and neat roadside gardens to ensuring a greater, coordinated overall effort was made, every year without fail, to be there or thereabouts when the top prizes were being distributed.
This was achieved through the weekly Meitheal which saw bands of volunteers, men women and children, taking to the streets, the approach roads and the roundabouts to pick up any carelessly discarded litter, pluck those unsightly weeds or apply an extra lick of paint to poles and kerbing. In addition, specific areas were targeted for planting initiatives, the street infrastructure was greatly enhanced and new monuments and sculptures were commissioned.
Mayor of Killarney and President of the town’s Chamber of Tourism and Commerce, Niall Kelleher, led the tributes to tidy towns champion who, he said, will be very fondly remembered as an incredibly dedicated woman, a strong personality who led by example and spearheaded the town’s tidy towns committee with such passion for over 25 years.
He recalled that her proudest day was when she inspired Killarney to the prestigious overall national award in 2011 which had proved so elusive prior to that.
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“Yvonne led by example and she never asked anyone to do something she wouldn’t do herself.
“You would seldom see her without the yellow bib, playing her part and showing us all what needed to be done to give Killarney the edge,” Mr Kelleher said.
“While winning the overall prize was something special, Killarney has never been far from the top and it has won a gold medal almost every year which is testament to Yvonne’s great skills ans an organiser, her determination and her ability to rally the troops”.
The Mayor and Chamber President also remembered her as a great businesswoman, a master baker and confectioner whose café on College Street was a must-visit for a whole generation of Killarney people and visitors.
“Yvonne Quill has left a great legacy in her home town. We thank her for what she has done, we’ll remember her incredible work ethic and we’ll ensure her name will live on in Killarney by continuing the commitment to the tidy towns initiative that she displayed,” Mr Kelleher said.
Johnny McGuire, a member of the executive of Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce, who worked alongside Yvonne at the helm of the tidy towns committee, said she was a born leader who inspired the whole community and always led by example.
“Killarney would never have won the All-Ireland tidy towns award without her. She was the inspirational captain of the winning team.
“Yvonne worked night and day and, when it came to tidy towns, there was no downtime for her,” he said.
“Her commitment to the cause brought her into every school and every housing estate in Killarney. Working closely with the late Fr Michael Murphy, her great friend, Kathleen Foley, and others, they really put Killarney in contention for the top awards,” Mr McGuire said.
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“The name Yvonne Quill was known and respected in tidy towns circles throughout the entire country – she really was a legend and everything she turned her hand to, she succeeded”.
The Café on College Street – run by Yvonne and by her mother before her – was the place to go for those seeking top notch refreshments and treats for so many years.
Customers queued for the delightful pastries and the in-house specialities like the famous custard slices, cream horns, coffee slices, chocolate eclairs and mini apple tarts were legendary.
Yvonne and her team also introduced Killarney to the magical ice-cream float – ice-cream mixed with fizzy orange – but it was when she was creating wedding and celebration cakes that her magnificent skills and great artistic talent really came to the fore.
Always kind, very generous and blessed with a great wit, Yvonne is survived by her husband, John, sons Peter and Seán, daughter Sandra, son-in-law Peter, daughter-in-law Mairéad, grandchildren Anna, Jake, Ted, Abby and Luke, sister Angela Mulvey, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives and many wonderful friends.
Reposing at O’Shea’s Funeral Home, on Sunday from 6.45pm to 8.30pm, requiem Mass will be on Monday at 11.00am in the Prince of Peace Church, Fossa, followed by burial in Aghadoe Lawn Cemetery.
The family has asked for donations in lieu of flowers, if desired, to be made to palliative care.
Guards of honour will be provided at the funeral by Killarney Tidy Towns Committee and the Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce.
The requiem Mass will be live-streamed on https://churchmedia.tv/fossa-parish.
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