The death of Babs (Bridget) Scally on Tuesday, July 29, marked the end of an era in Kilbeggan.

In her 97th year and predeceased by her husband Jimmy in 1981, Babs was the oldest resident of the parish and was known far and wide for her involvement in music and for the fact that she ran a successful chicken hatchery in Attyconnor for 40 years.

The Scally name is, of course, synonymous with Kilbeggan GAA and Babs was very proud that her eight sons - Pat, Dan, Seamus, Joe, Dominic, Ben, Brian and Tom - all wore the maroon and white jersey. Youngest son Tom captained the last Kilbeggan team to contest a Westmeath SFC final in 1980, which they lost to The Downs.

Babs' grandchildren, Ken Scally, his brother Randal and their first cousin James Fox are currently involved with the club as chairman, PRO and player respectively.

When Kilbeggan Shamrocks held a 50th anniversary reunion for the club's junior football and hurling champions of 1959, in early 2010 at Locke's Distillery, Babs was only too happy to play the piano at it.

Babs was highly active and in good health up until the time of her untimely passing. Her funeral was one of the largest seen in Kilbeggan in many a long day.