News Item

From Special Irish Fest Reproductive Sciences Correspondent Ronan Collins:

Last Goodbye To Nan of 172 Grandchildren
Ailsa Cranna-The Salford Advertiser

Parts of Salford were brought to a standstill as the matriarch of one of the city's largest Irish Catholic families was laid to rest.

Margaret Mary Ward, known to all as Maggie, died on Saturday, November 1 at the age of 87, leaving behind a family of 12 children, 172 grandchildren, 36 great-grandchildren and 18 great-great grandchildren.

Her white coffin, draped in the Irish flag left her home in Harrison Street, Lower Broughton, on Wednesday morning, in a glass hearse drawn by white horses, also decked out in the Irish tricolour.

It was followed by her large family, with many relatives coming over from Ireland and distant family member pop star Shayne Ward joining the mourners.

A Requiem Mass was held at St Sebastian's Church, on Gerald Road before the cortege made its way to Agecroft Cemetery accompanied by an Irish piper.

As her coffin was lowered into the ground, the piper played a lament, and 87 white doves were released, one for every year of her life.

As a final tribute 172 balloons, one for each of her grandchildren, each with a personalised message, were released.

Her daughter Mrs Anne Hudson said: "Mum was very much a family person - her children meant everything to her.

"In return we all looked up to her as the head of the family. That's why we have all gathered together to give her the send-off she deserved. She wouldn't have wanted anything solemn about the funeral, so we chose a white coffin and white horses, and draped her coffin in the flag of her beloved Ireland."

Mrs Ward was born in Galway where she met and married her late husband Charlie Ward, a traveller, and they moved to England in the mid 1960s, settling in the Lower Broughton area.

Her daughter Anne added: "Mum was a real battler. She had pneumonia five times and recovered, and had bad respiratory problems but never let it get her down.

"She never really went out when my father was alive and when he passed away in 1980, she devoted herself to the family.

"But she looked forward to her weekly visits to the bingo hall."

All I can say is Mom, you're a slacker. Rest in peace, Maggie.