When I think of Seán Stafford, the word that comes to mind is ‘Uasal’.
He was born in Thomastown, County Kilkenny on August 24, 1924. Growing up, he thought that any time spent going out with girls as a waste of good time that might be spent fishing. Then, while attending St. Patrick’s Training College in Dublin he met Máire and within three weeks he had proposed to her.
They married and came to Galway where Seán took up a post teaching in the Technical School. He and Máire were two very talented people whose shared interest in Irish language culture and in theatre made them a formidable team.
Together, they kept Connradh na Gaeilge going for years, they kept Feis Cheoil na Iarthar going for years, they kept Féile Drámaiochta na Scoil going for years.
They set up Club na n-Óg in the Áras in Dominick Street, an Irish language theatre school for young girls who attended after school. They wrote their own plays and put on performances. It was a very successful venture but they had to give it up due to a lack of help.
For more than 50 years, they were hugely involved in An Taidhbhearc playing many roles whether it was through acting, directing, translating, writing pantomimes or composing lyrics. Their energy, enthusiasm and hard work were vital to the ongoing success of that institution.
Seán was one of the most respected and loved people in Galway, one of nature’s gentlemen. His day job was as a teacher and in that and in everything else he did, he invariably got the job done by persuasion, but under that gentle façade there was a layer steel if it was required.
He was a fine actor, director, teacher, a wonderful mentor of emerging talents, a Gaeilgóir who loved the language and did not try to shove it down one’s throat, a modest man who wore his erudition lightly, who always seemed to be in good humour, a ‘Gobán Saor’ whose company would shorten any road. That was the public Seán.
The private Seán was a patriarch in the true sense of the word who, with Máire, presided over the rearing of their children with love and affection and encouragement.
He taught them how to express themselves and above all to be themselves and he rejoiced in their achievements. When Máire died six years ago, some of the spirit left him, but he revelled in the company of his grandchildren and great grandchildren and loved ‘being silly’ with them.
He died last week, aged 96 and his passing has left a huge vacuum in the cultural life of this city. He is survived by his children Ruairí, Fionnuala, Maelíosa, Órfhlaith and Conall.
Go raibh maith agat a Sheáin as bheith in ár measc agus go dtreoirí na n-aingil isteach sa bhflaithis thú. — TK
