OBITUARY

New Zealand Tablet, 11 August 1910, Page 1274

OBITUARY

MR. MICHAEL DENNEHY, WELLINGTON. (From our Timaru correspondent.) c a/?* i S .-^ ith , sincere regret I have to record the death ot Mr. Michael Dennehy, who passed away at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. I). R. Lawlor, of Wellington. The deceased had a long and varied career in military circles, and will be remembered by rosidents of Timaru, Lawrence, and Wellington, in each of which places he resided for a considerable time. Previous to coming to the Dominion in 1874, ho served a considerable time in the Royal Irish Constabulary, afterwards joining the West Cork Artillery, wher.e he rose from the ranks to be one of the most popular officers of his regiment. He resigned at the time of the J? email rising, being suspected of being in sympathy with that movement, and his correspondence with the Lord Lieutenant, now in possession of his daughter, is very strange and interesting reading in the year 1910. Arriving in the Dominion, he joined the Gaol Department, and was appointed by Colonel Hume (who held an important position in Ireland during Mr. Dennehy's term in the armv) as gaoler at Lawrence, a position he held for about seven years. Retiring on superannuation, he entered business in Wellington, but after a time retired, and lived his last years with his daughter. He was attended by the Rev. lather -Venning, and died fortified by all the rites or the Church. As a Gaelic scholar the late Mr. Dennehy was an enthusiast in the movement carried on by Dr t Hyde for the spread of the Irish language, and, being an extempore rhymer of no mean merit, it was one of his hobbies to translate Gaelic verse into English and vice versa. He was always a great supporter of the Tablet, being one of its first shareholders, and in his later days it was the only reading he seemed to enjoy. His funeral took place on Thursday, the 4th inst., and a pleasing and graceful incident occurred on the way to the burial ground. A company of artillery—he was always fond of artillerycoming back from the grave of an old Crimean veteran just buried, stood to attention as the cortege passed and saluted, a similar compliment being paid by the Garrison Band. The Rev. Father Smyth officiated at the graveside and the Rev. Father Tubman celebrated the Requiem Mass in the morning He leaves two daughters (Mrs. D. R. Lawlor, of Wellington, and Miss Dennehy, matron H.M.S* Prison, Dunedin) and two sons (Mr. E. J. Dennehy of Wellington, and Mr. M. F. Dennehy, of Timaru).— IJ?