The late Peter (Petey) Carr, Kilcar (Part 2)

Published Date: 05 November 2009

By Freelance SD

During the sixty years that I knew Peter we had some great times together. It all started when we were very young men. During those years we went to football matches together, big nights together and dances together. And, boy could he dance! At all the weddings he attended with Maire he spent most of the time dancing.
It should go without saying that we had a drink or two together but we didn’t agree on everything - sure who does? Naturally we had some lively arguments about everything from politics to football and to whose turn it was to buy the next round. And there were disputes about dates - that is about the day, or week, or month, or year certain things happened. Despite all that, we didn’t fall out. Isn’t that what friends are for?
One thing I can safely say: Petey didn’t have enemies. He was one of those people that once you met him you didn’t forget him. He could be described as the “friendly man” because that’s what he was, a friendly man who could sing, dance and tell yarns with the best.
Petey had a hard time in the last months of his life since he suffered terrible pain because of the cancer. But he stuck it out to the very end, although he spent his last days in the Letterkenny Hospice where he was treated with great care, attention and kindness. His family and friends are truly grateful towards all who looked after him there.
Now that Petey is gone, people have commented on how big a miss he is and so he is.
Wherever he went, he made his presence felt because he was larger than life. Now he rests in peace and I am happy that his pain is past because he was my best friend.
SD

The late Peter (Petey) Carr, Kilcar (part 1)

Published Date: 05 November 2009

By Freelance

I wanted to say a few words about my great friend Petey Carr, but how do you sum up a sixty year friendship with just a few words? No matter what words you use or how you use them, it's never enough. But for me that sixty years went by like the blinking of an eye.

Petey was born in Coguish, Kilcar in 1933. Like most people of those days he started work early on the family farm, later went to work of Gaeltarra Eireann in Kilcar as a weaver and afterwards a carder, but continued farming. Eventually he left the factory and went to work in the building industry, but still kept up the farming. He wasn’t afraid of hard work and all who knew him will vouch for that.
In 1963 Petey moved to live in the village of Kilcar and married Maire Byrne, Cashel, Kilcar that same year. They went on to raise a large family - six boys and two girls - and he was proud of them all because he saw them grow up to be honest and hardworking. Naturally he took great delight in his grandchildren too.
Music was a big part of his life too. He liked nothing better than heading for a session of traditional music. But he was no slouch himself when it came to singing a song or two. So it’s no wonder that there’s a lot of music in his family since he had it in him and Maire his wife is the daughter of the great traditional fiddler Francie (Dearg) Byrne and is also a lovely singer herself. And the gift of fiddle playing was passed on to their son Peter.