Obituary: James 'Jimmy Mull' Moloney, Waterford Crystal/Keane's Road
The late James 'Jimmy Mull' Moloney, of Keane's Road, Waterford City.
James 'Jimmy Mull' Moloney, of Keane's Road, Waterford City, and formerly of Waterford Crystal, Waterford Crystal Sports & Leisure Centre, and St. Saviour's Camogie Club, passed away peacefully in care of the wonderful staff of Oak ward University Hospital Waterford on January 16, 2025.
He was laid to rest at St. Otteran's Cemetery after a Requiem Mass at the Sacred Church in The Folly. Fr Gerard Chestnutt gave a poignant sermon about Jimmy and the great impact he had on so many throughout Waterford.
He said: "On behalf of all present, including myself, I express our sympathy to you, the entire family circle of Jimmy 'Mull' Moloney; to his nieces, Mary Walsh and Mary Byrne, his nephews, Henry, Danny, Patrick, Paul, Brian, Jim, to family through all generations, relations, neighbours and friends.
"A line that's appropriate as we gather today is 'at the service of community' because that is exactly what Jim Moloney did in so many ways throughout his almost 90 years."
Fr Chestnutt outlined how important community was for Jimmy, especially during a more conservative time in Irish history.
He said: "There were many positive things about those years, but there's negative as well, in so far as there were stark times, dark times, going to school for kids, in my own experience, in the 60s, was not exactly a place of joy.
"People had nothing, lived in small houses, barely able to cope, to manage finances, which is why so many people left and went away to either England, America or Australia. But there's one thing that they had, one attribute, they had a real and true sense of community. All the families knew each other. Keys were left in the front door. People supported one another. Community was very much at the heart of Jimmy's life."
He noted how Jimmy was given the guard of honour from the Ballybeg Camogie Club, showing his lifelong love and support of GAA.
Jimmy's passing comes only three months after the death of his brother Henry.
Addressing the family, Fr Chestnutt said: "Sadly for yourselves, you gather here this afternoon in this church as he gathered roughly three months ago for the funeral of his brother Henry. Now together again.
"Keane's Road won't be the same again, in a sense, at the end of an era two great characters, well-known throughout our city, will be no longer visible to the eye. It will be a quieter place. Heaven on the other side may be less quiet. Poor Henry, only three months of peace and now they're together again!"
Jimmy's nephew Henry gave a heart-warming tribute, describing a kind and caring uncle who was always there to help.
Henry described how age was no impediment for his uncle, and thanked the people of Waterford City for being so supportive of him.
He said: "With Jimmy losing his mobility he still led a full and active life and was enabled by the support of an awful lot of people."
Jimmy would frequent Assisi House and the City Square Shopping Centre most days.
Henry said: "He had a social outlet there, he had great friends there. Ladies working there made sure he was okay.
"He got his tea, his dinner, over to Kavanagh's shop for his sweets and to Billy Murphy for his meat.
"On behalf of my family we'd like to thank everyone involved in that, you know who you are."
He described how after the death of his mother in 1965, he and his sister Mary went to live with Jimmy and their grandmother on the Keane's Road.
He said: "Well, I didn't realize at the time, but out of tragedy, came something else, because we ended up actually with practically two fathers, Jimmy and my own father.
"So quite rightly, as Father Chestnutt said, this is an end of an era in Keane's Road. The lads loved Keane's Road, we were reared there, it will pass on to another family now, and they'll create their own memories and we wish them well."
Speaking of the community support, he said: "It's a great community that wraps around people in times of sorrow or tragedy. We're asking everyone to have your own little memories of Mull. Remember Mull."
According to his nephew, Jimmy was the quintessential Waterford man, always quick to say 'Up the Déise'.
"We're fairly unique in Waterford, we might talk about each other but deep down we look after each other the best we can. I definitely think Jimmy could be considered to be 'I Am Waterford'."
