Irish community mourns matriarch

Auckland's large Irish community has lost its matriarch with the death of Kathleen Doran of Mt Eden, aged 77. From County Tyrone, she arrived in Dunedin with her husband, Owen, in 1950 and moved to Auckland three years later where she served on Irish Society committees until failing health caused her resignation late last year. ``She is irreplaceable,'' says Mary Galway of the Irish Honorary Consul-General's office. ``New arrivals from the old country, if necessary, had a bed, a meal and a network of connections at the Doran household until they became established.'' Mrs Doran's mother died when she was young and she left school early to care for her five brothers and sisters. There was standing room only at her Requiem Mass at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Balmoral, with the emotional congregation singing I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen as she was carried from the church. Mrs Doran is survived by her husband, eight siblings and 18 grandchildren. - by Maurice Smyth