Luton's Irish community saddened by death of cultural champion Frank Horan
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Current chair Tom Scanlon said: “Frank has been a great supporter and cultural champion since the charity was established 22 years ago.
“He will be greatly missed by his friends at LIF and the Luton community at large.”
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Frank, who was 84, came to the UK in 1955 from Partry, Co Mayo. Arriving at Euston Station, he recalled it as ‘the biggest shed I’ve seen in all my life.’
His poem entitled The Princess Maud commemorates this journey. It encapsulates the poignant mix of immigrant emotions of uncertainty and hope, in hearts already missing their homeland.
He met his late wife Margaret at the iconic Galtymore Club and they married in 1960.
The couple moved to Luton so they could bring up their family in a place Frank described as ‘affordable and inclusive, where you’d get on with anyone – people of all descriptions.’
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He loved the welcome Luton gave them and was one of the founder members of Luton Irish Forum, a charity dedicated to developing welfare and support services for the local Irish community.
But it was his appreciation of language and literature and his artistic contribution that made LIF’s St Patrick’s Day Festival such a success.
He was responsible for introducing visiting Irish drama groups and staging performances of various classical and contemporary plays that reflected both the past and present Irish way of life.
Frank, who worked at Vauxhall, had three children - Julie, who sadly died in 2012 , Michael and Geraldine, and three grandchildren – Maria, Sarah and Callum.
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Geraldine, known as Gerri, said: “LIF does so much for the community and it became a social lifeline for dad after our mum passed away.
“It’s great to see, now its doors are open again, how big a part it plays in local people’s lives.”