On July 13 this year, the village of Portglenone bid farewell to a lady whom the parish priest, Fr Joseph Rooney, described as “the matriarch of the parish”.
For more than 40 years, Bibiana O’Connell taught generations of parishioners at the local St Mary’s Primary School.
Many of those pupils who benefited from her wisdom and guidance were in the funeral congregation to pay their respects.
Mrs O’Connell, as many still called her in the village, was born Bibiana Teague in Moneymore, Co Derry in December 1935.
The second eldest of 11 children to Charlie and Sarah, she attended St Mary’s convent, Magherafelt, taking an interest in Irish music and culture.
She studied at St Mary’s College in Belfast and taught there initially, but an encounter with a man named Vincent O’Connell changed her life.
They met at a dance in Randalstown. Vincent was badly smitten and wrote his phone number on the condensation of the car windscreen.
His courting campaign eventually paid off when they married and made their home in Portglenone.
The two foundation stones of Bibiana’s life were her family and her faith.
Devoted to Our Lady, she honeymooned in Lourdes and visited the shrine many times over her life. She also travelled to Knock and made pilgrimages to Fatima, Medjugorje and Rome.
Notwithstanding the wonder and beauty of these places, it was in Portglenone that she nourished her faith, regularly attending Mass in the church and in the nearby monastery (Bethlehem Abbey), where she had a strong and happy relationship with many of the brothers down through the years.
It was in the monastery that Bibiana and Vincent, who died in 2014, chose to celebrate 50 years of marriage.
The couple had nine children and as parents they rose to the challenge, providing all that was needed and a family home based around Vincent’s growing cattle business.
Mrs O’Connell encouraged the learning of music and the playing of traditional instruments, a path which many of her children and grandchildren have taken.
She was involved in Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann as branch secretary and over more than four decades hundreds of children, including her own, benefited from music lessons there, with classes still held every Monday evening.
Proud of her Irish heritage, Bibiana was delighted to be invited to afternoon tea at Áras an Uachtarán 20 months ago to meet President Higgins, his wife Sabina and their famous Bernese dogs.
She was a founder of the Vocation Society of St Joseph and a member of St Vincent De Paul, a lay custody visitor during part of the dark times of the Troubles, and a fervent volunteer for the Parkinson’s Society.
In later life, her passions were gardening and walking. She planted O’Connell’s Hill with daffodils as part of an inter-community project which included The Men’s Shed and Action Cancer Research and every child planted their own daffodil.
She also had many friends within the wider Christian community, to whom she gave a warm welcome as if they were family members.
Her family will cherish her memory as a loving mother, wife, grandmother, great-grandmother, teacher and respected member of the community.
Go mbeadh a fhois aici siocháin Chríost. Go raibh sí i suaimhneas síoraí. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
May she know the peace of Christ. May she rest in the peace of Christ. May her soul be on God’s right hand.
Fionnuala O’Connell