Tony was born on the 13th of December 1944, in Lisselton, Co. Kerry, Ireland.  

  

He was 1 of 11 children including older sisters Mary and Bridie, who remember that he was a good boy at school, and quite quiet. 

 

He used to tell the story of when he got told off by his dad, as he would ride their horse bareback and gallop through the fields. His dad was cross as this was a workhorse and it would be sweating before he was able to put him to work. 

 

Tony left home and worked in Limerick for a while and then came to England, when he was around 17. He lived with his sister Mary in London for a while, and there were other siblings who had made the same move – his older brother Michael who lived in Walworth and his older brother Paddy who settled in the East End of London. 

 

Tony was a good looking young man with sparkling blue eyes. He used to go to all the great dance halls of the time, The Shamrock, The Blarney on Tottenham Court Road and the Harp in New Cross, and by all accounts was a great dancer – all the girls wanted to dance with him. And it is the Shamrock where he first met Ann, a girl from Donegal who was to be the love of his life. 

 

He and Ann got married in 1968 at The Most Precious Blood Church near Borough Market. They lived first of all in a tenement block behind Borough High Street. 

 

Noreen was born in 1969, followed by Liz in 1970. A year later they moved to a bigger flat in Kennington and Kerry was born in 1980.  

 

Tony worked as a painter and decorator, and Ann did cleaning jobs to make ends meet. Noreen and Liz went to school at the Notre Dame at the Elephant, and Kerry attended the Sacred Heart School in Camberwell. Growing up, they did not have much money however the three girls never went without anything.  They always found money for school trips and eventually even managed to send Kerry to University. 

 

When they were little, their parents took Noreen and Liz over to Kerry to see their grandmother and other relatives. Liz remembers it was very rural and beautiful and that they lived by the beach. The girls even got to sit on a horse. 

 

When they were older, their mum used to take them and Kerry over to Ireland to see her family while Tony stayed in London, enjoying the chance to spend time with his friends in the pub or bet on the horses, without interruption. “He was an old rogue”, says Kerry, “with a wicked sense of humour. He was so stubborn that when a picture fell on his head and he had to have stitches, he pulled them out of his head himself!” 

 

Kerry remembers sharing a bedroom with her sisters, sleeping in bunk beds and listening to lots of music. When they grew up and went travelling, she finally got the bedroom to herself. 

 

As they left home and got their own flats, their dad would come over and do the painting and decorating: “He was so generous, and generous with his time. He was really good at painting our flats. After he had painted the walls and we saw what it was like, we would change our minds and he would paint them again. We all did it.”  Liz says when she was pregnant with Connie, he painted her sitting room wall 6 times and then it ended up being the same colour the first time it was painted.  Tony joked the room was ½ the size now it had been painted so much. 

 

He was a perfectionist, always punctual and very honest.  

 

The family had to endure a terrible tragedy in 2004. Noreen was involved in an accident while on holiday in South Africa and tragically lost her life, leaving her husband Jez to raise their little girl Ella by himself. Tony was a huge support to them, and become a constant figure of support to both Ella and Jez and in later years spent many a day testing Jez on his knowledge whilst learning to be a Black Taxi Driver.   

 

As well as Ella, he had four more grandchildren: Connie, Lillie, Harry and Grace and he loved being with them, especially playing jokes. Every time they came to see him, he would hide in the flat and then jump out on them. He also loved to give the grandchildren their pocket money. 

 

Tony didn’t like to travel too much and only went between London and Ireland. The family got him back to Ireland 12 years ago but both Tony and Ann forgot their passports for the flight, and ended up getting the ferry there – much to his relief as he didn't like flying! 

 

Everyone is going to remember Tony for his laughter. He was a great character and loved to laugh. His favourite TV programmes were Only Fools and Horses and Morecombe and Wise. 

 

Tony was ill with COPD for the last seven years but fought it all the way, and never lost his sense of humour. The grandchildren thought he had nine lives (we said he was just stubborn!) as he was given the last rites last Easter in hospital and we all said our goodbyes. He woke the next day and said he couldn't believe it when he opened his eyes and thought, “If this is heaven, it's not so bad.” He used to take out Harry for a ride on his mobility scooter to the park right up to the very end. 

 

Tony was someone who didn't like to make a fuss. When he had a heart attack he got on the bus to hospital as he didn't feel he needed an ambulance. Just recently during the lockdown, when asked whether they would like food to be delivered, he told them: “No thank you. You should give it to someone who needs it”. 

 

Tony died on the 21st of May. He went the way he would have wanted to... at home, peacefully, with Ann looking after him to the very end. They would have been married for 52 years on 1st June. The whole family acknowledges that Ann is an absolute angel and they were soulmates. 

 

The poet Rumi says, “Come out of the circle of time, and into the circle of love.” Tony is in the circle of your love now and will stay there as long as you live.