Sadness Around The County After Passing Of Ted Moynihan

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Ted Moynihan at the turning of the sod on the new palliative care unit at UHK back in November 2016.

THERE was great sadness in Tralee and around the county with the news that Ted Moynihan had passed away early on Thursday morning.

He died in the new Palliative Care In Patient Unit at University Hospital Kerry, the facility he had been instrumental in building through his fundraising efforts over the years.

The Mayor of Tralee, Norma Foley, paid tribute to Ted saying he was an “absolute gentleman” and “our community is a better and more caring place because of the impact that Ted has had.”

The Kerry Hospice Foundation has also released a statement on his passing which can be read in full at the end of this story below.

Ted was the driving force behind the Kerry Hospice Foundation for the past 28 years.  Through his fund raising efforts, a Palliative Care Facility was opened in 2007 and he was tireless in his efforts to get the new palliative care in-patient unit in the Day Care Centre in Tralee opened last year.

At that official opening, Ted told the assembled guests; “Hospice matters. The end of life deserves as much duty, care and respect as the beginning. I hope that any of you will never need the Hospice, but the Hospice will always need you.”

On hearing of his passing, Mayor of Tralee,  Norma Foley said; “He is a huge loss. Ted was an absolute gentleman and in everything he touched he brought that gentlemanly manner.

“He had a huge capacity for hard work and generosity. He was motivated by being helpful to the other. He put the community first and we would not have the facilities we have today in terms of Hospice care at University Hospital Kerry without him.

“It was his vision and his work ethic which gave him the ability to reach out to the community and invite them to share in his dream. Our community is a better and more caring place because of the impact that Ted has had.”

We will miss him greatly but his legacy speaks for itself and will continue to be a living memory of Ted. To his family and huge number of friends, I extend my sympathies,” she said.

Ted is survived by wife Breda and sons Simon and Teddy, his grandchildren, sisters Noreen & Joan, daughter-in-law, nephews, nieces, relatives, neighbours and many, many friends.

Reposing at The Gleasure Funeral Home, Tralee on Friday from 7.30pm to 9.30 pm with removal to St. John’s Church. Requiem Mass on Saturday at 12 noon.

Interment afterwards in Rath Cemetery. Donations in lieu of flowers, if desired, to Kerry Hospice Foundation, U.H.K., or care of The Gleasure Funeral Home.

A statement from the Kerry Hospice Foundation reads; 

It is with a deep sense of heartfelt sadness that the Kerry Hospice Foundation announces the passing of our founder member and chairman Ted Moynihan, the 2017 Kerry Person of the Year. Ted passed away on Thursday morning in the tender care of staff at the new Palliative Care In Patient Unit at University Hospital Kerry in the presence of his heartbroken, loving and deeply caring family.

Despite being diagnosed with cancer in 1983 and again in 2015, Ted Moynihan from Marian Park, Tralee had been the motivation behind the formation of the Kerry Hospice Foundation. Ted also co –ordinated the establishment of more than 20 branches of the Kerry Hospice Foundation, 18 branches are still in existence today.

Born in Blennerville, Ted was employed initially at the Tralee Boot Factory for nine years before the factory was gutted by fire in 1959. He subsequently took up employment during the construction of the Castelrosse Hotel in Killarney and also worked as a bus conductor with CIE from 1960 to 1963. He later worked as a driver for Kerry Petroleum servicing the South Kerry route. From 1982 to 1987, he worked with Jason Products in Tralee and was employed with the US textile company, Klopman in Tralee from 1987 to 1997. 

Ted was a dedicated and loyal member of the FCA for more than 43 years reaching the rank of Sergeant Major.

He married Breda Foley from Marian Park, Tralee in 1964 and the couple have two sons, Teddy and Simon and four beautiful grandchildren Chloe, Jade, Simon and Blathnaid.

In February 1990, a conference held in Ballymullen Army Barracks in Tralee announced that the 15th Battalion of the F.C.A. was to undertake a 150 mile sponsored walk, that included the Ring of Kerry, with the proceeds going to Baile Mhuire Tralee and the Kerry Cancer Support Group. 

This prompted Ted to establish a Hospice movement in Kerry, along with Dr. Tom McCormack F.R.C.S.I. at Tralee General Hospital. 

Ted was deeply honoured and privileged to have been the Chairman of the Tralee Branch of Kerry Hospice for the past 28 years. He also served as the Kerry Hospice Foundation chairman for 25 years. Thanks to the motivation, leadership and tireless work of Ted Moynihan, the hospice volunteers have raised more than €11 million in 25 years. The Kerry Hospice Foundation works in close collaboration with the HSE South to develop the Palliative Care Services in Kerry. It first started with the Community Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialists team (known then as the Home Care team) 25 years ago, providing hospice beds in Community Hospitals, the Palliative Day Care Unit in 2007 and now the state of the art 15 bed In Patient Unit that opened in December 2017 . 

The capital cost of the development of the In Patient Unit, €6.2 million, was fully funded by Kerry Hospice with a commitment for significant financial support from the Kerry Hospice Foundation amounting to €400,000 per year for a period of 5 years towards the on going operational costs of the Unit. 

Ted Moynihan has been heavily involved in the annual Hospice Coffee Morning and Sunflower Day for the past twenty years. He organised the first Good Friday Hospice Walk in 1998 and this is now one of the largest events of its kind in Kerry. 

Among the many accolades bestowed to this proud Blennerville  man was the 2010 All Ireland Volunteer Award, a Civic Reception from Tralee Town Council and he was Grand Marshall of the Tralee St. Patrick’s Day Parade in 2011. He was also accorded a civic reception from the members of the Tralee Municipal District on the 9th of May 2016.

A dedicated community volunteer, Ted has been involved in all aspects of community life. He was actively involved in the Tralee Footwear and F.C.A. Basketball teams in the 1950’s, Kerins O’Rahillys GAA Club, Tralee Light Opera Society in the late 1950’s and stage manager for ‘Showboat’ which starred the late Jack Cruise.

He was Chairman of Marian Park Residents Association in late 1960’s and also chairman of Marian Park Community Games. In1970’s, he was involved with Pro Celtic Basketball Club and served as secretary of the Kerry County Basketball Board and president of the Munster Basketball Board from 1978 to 1979. Ted was a founding member of Tralee Bay Sea Angling Club. 

The Kerry Hospice Foundation is a team of ordinary people doing extraordinary work inspired by a true gentleman and leader in Ted Moynihan. We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to his loving wife Breda, who loaned Ted to the Kerry Hospice Foundation for 28 years, his sons Teddy and Simon, his four wonderful grandchildren Chloe, Jade, Simon and Blathnaid and extended family.