On the 26th of this month it will be three years since the late Pasqueline Blake (nee Keeney) had a small personal wish granted.
On a Saturday afternoon at the Donegal Hospice, Dublin Institute of Technology (now called T.U.D.) sent a set of gowns and colours to Letterkenny.
by Brian McDaid
Gabriel Blake was a student there, his mother’s wish was that she could see him as he would be on his graduation day.
Studio lights and backdrops were set up and photos were taken of Paschal, Pasqueline and Gabriel all of which were very special to the family.
A photo of Gaberial Blake caputred by his mother the Late Pascqueline Blake in 2019.
Then there was one photo at the end of the photoshoot when Pascalqueline when asked, stepped in behind the camera on the tripod, looked through the viewer and saw her son Gabriel smiling back at her. A 60th of a second captured that moment onto what is now the replacement for what was once the old 35 mm film.
The old film reels are part and parcel of the generations of the Keeney family. Malachy, Pasqueline’s brother, was one of the family that worked in the background taking the films reels to Donegal for the big screen from Dublin to La Scala Cinema in Letterkenny back in the day.
Remembering a brother and sister
Christmas and the New Year is a funny old time. It can be very difficult especially for those who have lost someone in the recent past.
Two cousins of the present generations of the Keeney family, Conal and Gabriel are on the phone to each other far away from their hometown in Dublin and Belfast determined to start 2022 in a positive way.
They decided they would take a run down a familiar road. ‘A Wee run to Rathmullan’ Townies from Letterkenny have made the seaside town of Rathmullan their ‘go to’ location.
Conal Doherty and Gabriel Blake decided to do something for Donegal Down Syndrome and in memory of Gabriel’s late mother Pasqueline and his brother Malachy who passed away in 2019 and 2016 respectively.
Paschal and Pasqueline Blake pictured with Dolores Dunleavy at her art exhibition in 2005 Photo Brian McDaid.
Pascalqueline was laid to rest in Conwal in Letterkenny and her brother in Rathmullan. Gabriel’s birthday is this weekend and the boys are going to mark with he occasion and connect the two resting place with a run and walk
It’s not the first time these two cousins teamed up. In their early teens; they were part of a band called Jamaican Vampires back in 2011 made up of Lauren Keeney (another cousin) (vocals), Gabriel Blake (guitar), Conal Doherty (bass guitar) and Gary Hamilton (drums).
This photo of them receiving their awards at a young age was captured in the back Garden of Gabriel’s home on the New Line Road, as Gabriel’s parents looked out the kitchen window.
Jamaican Vampires back in 2011 made up of Cousins Lauren Keeney (vocals), Gabriel Blake (guitars), Conal Doherty (bass guitar) pictured with Gary Hamilton (drums). Photo was taken at Gaberiel’s home on the New LIne Rd. Photo Brian McDaid.
Ten years on and it’s been a difficult time over the last decade for the Keeney family. Pasqueline fought a brave battle in a very positive way for five years and in the middle of that journey she lost her brother Malachy.
In March of 2019 Pasqueline sadly passed away just as her son’s music career really started to take off with Dublin-based band ‘Murder Capital’ who released their first singles followed by their first Studio Album “When I Have fears” in August 2019.
In 2020 Gabriel was in New York with the band for a big gig at Brooklyn Bowl in March when the lockdown hit which meant he didn’t get back home to do something on his mother’s first anniversary. Later this year Paschal and Gaberial hope to do something on Pasqueline’s third anniversary.
Graduation
Conal Doherty who recently graduated in Phychiatric Nursing in Belfast. who will join his cousin in the run from letterkenny to Rathmullan this saturday.
In 2021 Conal Doherty graduated in Belfast in his Psychiatric Nursing studies while Gaberiel graduated in his music studies in Dublin at DUT.
This weekend Gabriel will celebrate his birthday and the memory of his mum and uncle with Conal and a few friends for a charity run.
The positivity of his mother in her difficult final years has brushed off on the young Letterkenny man and nearly three years on Gabriel felt he was in a better space to do something to remember his mother and her brother Malachy.
Cousins Conal Doherty and Gabrial Blake who will run in memory of Pasqueline Blake and Malachy Keeney this weekend.
Now the photo of Gabriel taken by his mother has been honoured by her son who graduated before Christmas.
Saturday will be a very special day as family and friends join in a big day in memory of a brother and sister that were taken long before their time.
The boys have set up a donation link where donations can be made in aid of the Donegal Down Syndrome and in memory of Pasqueline Blake and Malachy Keeney at https://www.idonate.ie/pasquelinemalachysruntorathmullan
