Sadness at passing of Margaret Walsh, Athy Museum Curator

There was heartfelt sadness in the south Kildare heritage community with the passing of Margaret Walsh, curator of the Athy Heritage Museum and administrator of the Shackleton Autumn School. 

Margaret had worked at the Heritage Centre for two decades curating and promoting its unique collections. Such was her dedication that the Athy venue was awarded a hard-earned museum-standards accreditation by the Heritage Council. Margaret's quiet competence and daily resilience ensured the presence of the museum at the heart of Athy's heritage resource. 

Working closely with partners in the Athy community, she ensured that the museum went from strength to strength to the point where it is on the threshold of a major development highlighting the achievement of  Ernest Shackleton, a native of south Kildare and a globally celebrated polar explorer.  The Athy Museum is regarded as one of the leading centres of Antarctic exploration heritage in Europe and each year she was the first point of contact for polar experts from all over the world who came to Athy for the Shackleton Autumn School which has hosted distinguished guests including President Michael D. Higgins. 

Her premature passing after an illness privately borne saddened many in her native Monasterevin where she resided and where she had been a youth leader in earlier years.  Her loss is keenly felt too among friends of the Athy Museum throughout Ireland and beyond. Their representation at her requiem Mass celebrated in St Peter & Pauls Church, Monasterevin, by Fr Liam Merrigan, PP, included Jonathan Shackleton, a relative of the famous explorer, who travelled from Cavan and Dr Jim McAdam, from Belfast and Editor of the Falklands Islands Journal. Local historians paying their respects were her Athy Shackleton colleagues - Frank Taaffe and Seamus Taaffe, Clem Roche, Kevin Kenny Joe O'Farrell and Dr Mark McClean.
Predeceased by her parents Bobby and Martha, Margaret will be greatly missed by her loving sisters Liz and Lisa, brother John, brothers-in-law Jim and Michael, sister-in-law Sinead, her nieces and nephews Debbie, Vanessa, Jamie, Jeanann, Daryl, Lucas and soon to be grandniece, colleagues, extended family, neighbours in Cowpasture and friends including in her native Monasterevin and Athy where her quiet efficiency endeared her to many.