From this valley they say you are going,
We will miss your bright eyes and sweet smile,
For they say you are taking the sunshine,
Which has brightened our pathways a while.
These were the opening lyrics of the song, Red River Valley sung so beautifully by Gary Mangan at his father’s funeral in Glendowan Church last Friday. A voice like his father’s before him, so infectious that the congregation were drawn into the chorus. What Gary did in music the late John Mangan did in the art of having a chat which made it so comfortable for you to join in his conversation.
John Mangan could have been forgiven for never going outside his front door considering the hand of cards that life dealt him in his early life robbing him of the ability to walk. John got Polio as a young boy still only at school. This was the start of a journey as John was hospitalised for years in Dublin, Letterkenny and later Killybegs with the added complication of getting T.B.
When John arrived home from hospital not able to walk very far on crutches and with no wheelchair. Local neighbours made John’s first wheelchair out of anything they could get their hands on. The finished product may have looked crude but it was the start for John.
The Latin word ambilare translated means to walk or move about which was an early medical care were patients were moved by lifting or wheeling. The people that made John’s first ambilare of sorts did two very important things for John, in that they made it possible for John to move about on his own steam and also in turn made John start the positive process of believing in himself.
Cruckraw
In 1961 The Artist Derek Hill ask if he could paint a portrait of John complete with his home made wheelchair and his dog Jack in a field near Glendowan which was also to give John a much needed boost of self belief.
The 1961 portrait By Derek Hill of John Mangan painted in Churchill complete with John’s dog Jack and Cruckraw Hill in the background. The painting is a part of the Dublin City Gallery Collection at The Hugh Lane Gallery.
Derek included the local landmark Cruckraw Hill in the picture.
John built his home looking out over Cruckraw and even though John would never physically reach the top of the mountain he would take his bearing from watching the clouds heading out over it every day of his life.
John Mangan pictured in same place 53 years after Derek Hill first painted John’s portrait in 1961 complete with John beloved Cruckraw Hill in the background. Photo Brian McDaid.
John spent his life outdoors doing voluntary work selling and promoting for the Irish Wheelchair Association. So what passed over Cruckraw in the morning in Churchill, weather wise had a good chance of ending up in Letterkenny that day where John was a familiar face at the old Dillion’s Supermarket and then at the Courtyard Shopping Centre.
A view of Cruckraw Hill and Glendowan Chapel from the historic Cemetery at Colmcille Abby where John Mangan was laid to rest beside his late wife Betty last Friday .Photo Brian McDaid
John was a familiar sight in the 1970s where he would call into Hegarty’s Auto Services for petrol on his way home. Starting off driving an old DAF 66 car which was belt driven opposed to having a drive shaft, and then a Ford Escort Mk2, which was automatic and had hand controls for the brakes and throttle.
Betty
In 2014 when John was interviewed for a feature for his lifetime achievement and contribution to the Irish Wheelchair Association, he was still trying to come to terms with the death of his wife and his rock Betty who passed away with cancer in 2012. He missed her so much.
John Mangan with his daughter Rosemarie Sharkey and Geraldine Rodgers as last years coffee morning at his home for the Donegal Hospice in memory of his late wife Betty. Photo Brian McDaid
Married in 1971 and with three children Gary, Jackie and Rosemarie, John sat at home trying hard to look for the brighter coloured clouds passing out over Cruckraw after his wife died, but it was his children and grandchildren that were now his inspiration who gave John the support he much needed to get back to the John we all knew.
Charlie Molloy, John’s grandson smiling away for the camera pictured with his mother Jackie as John was gets his pictured taken for the Irish Wheelchair Association feature in 2014 Photo Brian McDaid
On Friday last John made his final journey from his home to the Glendowan chapel for his funeral and then on to Colmcille Abbey Cemetery to join his late wife Betty. Betty’s brother Paschal Gillen an Irish Army Piper stood on the highest point in the graveyard in the historic Abbey to welcome John to his final resting place as the sound of the bag pipes filled the valley below. Now from that famous Abbey John and Betty still have a view of Cruckraw, but now from the Gartan side as they watch over the family and friends with love from above.
Rest in Peace John
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