Betty Moran was born in Tinnamuck in 1948 to Maggie and Patsy Mcloughlin and in 1973 married Johnny Moran from Doon following which they had three children Liz, Mags and John.
Betty was involved in all aspects of community Life in Tubber. There is not one person in Tubber for whom Betty did not make tea, whether that was her beloved GAA club, tidy towns, hall committee, active retirement, old folks party, parent’s council or any other community activity in the village. Betty loved her community and supported everything that ever happened in it.
Betty always loved the great outdoors and farmed all her life, firstly with her father Patsy, then with her husband Johnny and then on her own with the valued support of her children and their families. Many a conversation took place about the price of cattle or land in her local pub The Cat and Bagpipes.
Betty was respected by all the farming community in Tubber and its surrounds. Even though Betty never took a drink, she was often the last person to leave ‘The Cat’, and always made sure everyone got home safe. She was known to pack a fair crowd in the Nissan Micra on many occasions. Every second Sunday night Betty arrived in The Cat for the Lotto, often a little bit late!
Her love of the land and nature took her to her passionate interest in the Tidy Towns competitions. For years in the spring and summer months, Betty would be seen working endlessly in the village making sure that every corner was planted and looking its best. Every year in September she awaited eagerly the Tidy Towns results, and thankfully on occasions Tubber featured in the winner’s enclosure. For years Betty grew cabbage in abundance and supplied it to her local butchers in Moate. She always shopped local and spent many a happy morning in Gillivan’s shops.
In 2015, Betty was made Life President of her beloved Tubber GAA Club. This was in recognition of her lifetime service to the club. For years Betty organised Junior and Senior Scór, and she took great pride in organising both young and old for the competitions. For years Betty was the woman who, together with Mary Jo and Mary (fondly known as the three amigos ), organised tea, soup and sandwiches for everyone that ever-played football in Tubber.
Indeed, if any player made a mistake on the pitch like giving a bad pass, it wouldn’t be long until Betty would tell them off about it. Nothing escaped Betty’s eagle eye when it came to football. There was no one prouder than Betty when Tubber won the county finals in 1986, 1988, 1989 and the Intermediate title in 2006. The 2006 final was even more special as Betty’s son, John, was a member of the winning team. Betty was a great supporter of Offaly football and hurling and made many trips to support them from O’Connor Park to Croke Park. Betty always made sure that the tea and sandwiches were available in Clonliffe Car Park.
In the last few years, Betty found a new interest in Tubber Active Retirement Group, and became involved in activities such as Boccia, Chair Volleyball, Art, Computer Studies and was very much up to date with modern technology. She loved her Thursday mornings with all her buddies sharing a cuppa and discussing the previous night’s Boccia results. She also travelled abroad on two occasions with her family and had memorable holidays. Betty looked after herself well and was a regular visitor to The Grand Hotel and Tuar Ard.
Betty is survived by her daughters Margaret and Liz, son John, sons-in-law Basil and John, daughter in-law Suzanne, beloved grandchildren Áine, Máire, Emer, Aoife and Eoin, extended family and a very wide circle of friends. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.
