Death of a great Offaly giant of business and politics

The death has taken place of one of Tullamore's great personalities John Flanagan. It would take a book to detail his full life story and business career, the many strands of it.

A native of Cappincur, he was one of Offaly's greatest business and political figures. A long serving Fianna Fail councillor, serving on both County and the old Tullamore Urban District Council, he was a loyal, passionate party man, a believer and proponent of their message, ethos and what they had to offer Ireland and the ordinary citizen.

He was a construction giant, a prolific builder of houses, estates, shopping centres, units and much else. He was an early partner in Banagher Concrete. His company Flanagan Properties rebuilt the Church of the Assumption in Tullamore after its 1983 fire, built the Tullamore Court Hotel and several housing estates. He was responsible for a lot of Tullamore being the way it is today and developed vast tracts of land, both for businesses and housing. He was a very proactive developer and developed a lot of the Tanyard and Kilcruttin in Tullamore as well as the Axis Business Park.

In his 90s, he was great, gregarious, engaging company with a huge appetite for conversation and debate. Much will be said about his political and business career. His political contribution to town and county was immense. He had a real vision, could see the wood from the trees and was full of common sense. He could become embroiled in fierce political rows and he fell out with political adversaries, not to mention colleagues on occasion. He was a brilliant canvasser, oozed Fianna Fail blood and he stood his ground in boardrooms and on doorsteps but his guiding motive was always a better Tullamore and Offaly. In politics and business, his policy was very much one of a rising tide raising all ships.

After searching for his political home in his youth, he devoted himself to Fianna Fail and was a huge backer, confidante and friend of two of Offaly's greatest poilitical figures, Ger Connolly and Brian Cowen. He had a great understanding of politics and his advice and guidance was always valued by those who sought it and received it.

As a business man with his hand in so many pies, a hard nose and ruthless streak were an absolute necessity. He did step on toes, he took hard stances, took people and groups on, and not everyone was left with fond memories of him. For a man with such wide ranging and diverse interests, that was unavoidable and it is part of his life story.

He never shied away from that but this was very much balanced by a sense of fairness and sound principles. He was a great employer and the fact that many of his employees, particularly those from his own generation, were “lifers” or worked for him for years speaks volumes about his character and the way he treated people. He looked after the honest, hard working man and woman.

He had huge community involvement, playing lead or backing roles in many groups. He was a keen member of Tullamore Town Band for years, a founding member and the first chairman of St Mary's Youth Centre, he was a man who got things done and he brought good people on board with him – it was never easy to say no to Johnny Flanagan!!

Away from all that, there was another more private, less public, endearing, very attractive side to the man.

There was John Flanagan, the fiercely loyal, proud, devoted husband, father and grandfather.

There was John Flanagan, the passionate, hugely dedicated golfer. A former captain of Tullamore Golf club and a low single figure handicapper in his prime, he was often at his happiest in Tullamore Golf Club, playing rounds, hitting countless balls on the practice range between the fifth and seventh holes, chipping on the chipping green and putting. He loved daily practice when he could, was a great man to offer gentle advice on the game – he wasn’t one of those who gave unsolicited advice or told someone how to play the game but was more than happy to offer guidance when asked and it was always in an encouraging way. He had a great knowledge of the technical aspects of golf while the sociable coffee and chat in the club house afterwards was an important part of the fun for him.

He was a very competitive golfer, a regular entrant in the prize winners' enclosure and frequent member of inter-club teams as well as managing them.

He was not a fan of the new online booking system when introduced at Tullamore Golf Club some years ago and rarely embraced it. Johnny, as he was affectionately known, liked to play his golf more casually and informally in later years. It was a sign of the esteem and respect he was held in that he was one of the few people that would have been tolerated in the club as he jumped in on the first tee box or out on the course as the opportunity arose. Apart from an odd occasional dirty look, he almost always did this without censure or comment, he didn’t delay on the course and was certainly not one of the people responsible for slow play – he believed in playing golf in a speedy, timely manner.

There was John Flanagan, the man who embraced retirement after a hectic business and political life, albeit keeping business interests afloat. Like any business man, he had his knocks and things that didn't work, he lost money in some deals, made buckets of it in most and he was hugely successful and astute. He was very proud of the Church and the Tullamore Court Hotel and he was very disappointed that the planned private hospital at the old Tullamore Soccer Club grounds didn’t get off the ground as the recession kicked in, occasionally speaking about this with real honesty – the Flanagan’s had got that land from Tullamore AFC at Puttaghaun in an audacious land swap that entailed them building a new ground for the club at the Ballyduff end of town.

A non drinker, he was a very sociable man and very much a creature of habit. He was entertaining and opinionated, not afraid to air controversial views. He loved his morning coffee and nightly visit to the leisure centre at Tullamore Court Hotel for years. For years, his daily routine in retirement included morning coffee, golf and a swim and sauna in the Leisure Centre.

During his business heyday, it was a different story as he showed a great energy and enthusiasm for work and getting things done quickly. He was a unique man. He was the boss, the deal maker, the paymaster and he called the shots but he also got his hands dirty. The sight of him with a shovel or brush in his hands doing the essential basic, mundane work was also a familiar one to workers etc.

He also had a great interest in the GAA and was very proud of Offaly’s many successes – he was one of the lucky people who witnessed and enjoyed all the big wins from the 1950s on and he had a great understanding of what the GAA meant to Offaly. He was a pivotal figure in the early days of Cappincur GAA club after their 1949 formation – a young man at that stage, he was their first treasurer and played at midfield in their historic first game.

The Flanagan's were fantastic financial supporters of Offaly GAA . His sons Tony and John jnr were key members of O Connor Park redevelopment and various County Board finance committees for years. John supported that and him and the group dug deep into their pockets whenever asked.

Among the many developments the Flanagan’s undertook was the purchase of one of Tullamore’s iconic venues, the former Hayes Hotel/Phoenix Arms in the centre of town at Hayes Cross at the junction between Church, Patrick and William Streets. They built a very popular modern pub and night club, #1 Church Street there over a couple of decades ago. Apart from being a very important part of the Tullamore entertainment scene, they sponsored the Offaly football championships for a few years. When that closed – it is now the site of Boot’s Pharmacy -, it was a mere formality that this sponsorship would be continued by the family through one of their most cherished assets, the Tullamore Court Hotel. Though the hotel was taken over by the Inua chain a few years ago, they have continued as sponsors – Johnny’s pivotal part in the building of Tullamore’s first hotel was reflected by the provision of a specially reserved parking space at the front of it.

His longevity was remarkable and he was remarkably fresh, engaged and active well into old age. It was only in the past couple of years that Fr Time caught him and he could no longer do many of the things that he loved but when that happened and he ended up in a nursing home, he accepted it and embraced that final stage of a long, very well lived, full life. He engaged with fellow residents in the nursing home, playing bingo with them and still enjoying life.

He leaves a huge legacy to his beloved town and country. Despite success that most can’t dream of, he remained very grounded and proud of his humble Cappincur roots throughout his long life – he grew up in a small rural cottage at the Clonmore-Springfield townlands when times were tough, resources scarce and his upbringing remained a part of his DNA, part of who he was. He knew the value of things, a penny was a penny and a pound was a pound but he was also enterprising, brave, willing to take chances and spend big money on projects.

He lived on the New Road in Tullamore for most of his life and there were no airs and graces about him, just a refreshing straightness and honesty. He was a self made man, a real success story. The growth of his businesses from small beginnings in the 1940s and '50s is one of the great Offaly stories – in the 1950s, young workers in building suppliers, such as the old Co-Op, in Tullamore retain memories of him buying items on credit and paying off for them weekly.

Personable, he was a gentleman who didn’t distinguish in the way he engaged and conversed with people from all spheres of life. He remained essentially an ordinary rural man, albeit one living in a big urban centre, taking on huge big money projects. He called a spade a spade, didn't suffer fools gladly, took hard knocks on the chin, bounced back and he was one of the great forces of nature in Tullamore and Offaly for several decades. A great man has passed away.

Pre deceased by his beloved wife Catherine (Kitty) in 2009, daughter Annette, son Enda and his brother Jim, John will be sadly missed and always remembered by his loving family May, Rosaleen, Kathryn, John, Majella and Tony, daughters in law Lucy and Fiona, his adored grandchildren and great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, relatives, neighbours and many friends.

He was buried in Clonminch Cemetery on Monday with a piper leading his funeral cortege up town and Fianna Fail activists forming a guard of honour.