Printer’s Devil wrote appreciation of Bernie Gillespie
By Tom Gillespie
MY uncle Bernie Gillespie was only 62 years old when he was called to the great newsroom in the sky in May 1982.
For over 40 years he had an illustrious career in the newspaper business, representing the family business at all the major news events in the region.
When I started my journalistic career in 1968, my first marking with Bernie was to a meeting of the Mayo GAA Board upstairs in the Imperial Hotel in Castlebar. Bernie had a jotter and a selection of pencils as he took notes of the proceedings.
Later he always told me: ‘A bad pencil is better than a bad memory’.
Following his death the following appreciation appeared in his beloved Connaught Telegraph, and was contributed by A Printer’s Devil, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
It opened with a quote from W.B. Yeats:
"And having talked to some later hour
Climb up the narrow winding stair to bed
Discoverers of forgotten truth
Or mere companions of my youth,
Tonight being dead."
How shall I remember him? Here are just a few of the ways - good humour, fairness, fellowship, generosity and his love of his work.
In those days the Telegraph didn’t always make its deadline - for one reason or another - and Bernie would deliver the paper personally to the outlying areas around Castlebar whenever this occurred.
The trip would consist of visiting Islandeady, Westport, Tourmakeady, Ballyglass, Breaffy and back to the point of origin - Cavendish Lane.
He would ask one of us to accompany him to help him do the delivery. I believe he took turns with us - this was his way of being fair.
But when I accompanied him I thoroughly enjoyed the experience as he drove around the above mentioned areas pointing out the various landmarks along the way, listening to his constant chatter and banter. And, of course, he always bought you a lemonade or two!
In fact, I secretly began to hope that the paper would be late more often so enjoyable were those trips.
Of course, I dared not confide this secret hope to Bernie, for I was, after all, part of the production function in those days. But youth’s hopes and management’s goals don’t always coincide.
I mentioned his sense of fairness. This he showed on numerous occasions. If I might cite just one instance.
A Castlebar youth got into trouble with the law and when the story was typed by another young reporter on the staff he listed the youth’s name, address, etcetera. I ‘set’ the story as typed and when the gallery proofs came back Bernie had deleted the name, address, etcetera, of the youth.
I remember pointing out that the story had lost its appeal because of the deletions and also I didn’t like to have to ‘set’ some of those paragraphs all over again.
Bernie’s reply was: "I have to meet these people every day, they’re decent people."
Another of his qualities was sense of fellowship. On returning home on holidays after emigrating, I went to visit him. And one of his comments to me then that stood out was: "You grew with us, you know." He always treated you as a peer.
He also liked a good story and when one would break he thought nothing of holding up the deadline to get the story into print. He was then a flurry of excitement, sometimes giving you one page of copy at a time. And when the story was all ‘set’, locked in the form and the press rolling we were all relieved.
Then we would all gather around the ’stone’ and unwind. These were really the most enjoyable moments as we talked into the small hours about reporters and printers of other days and their idiosyncrasies.
God grant his gentle spirit eternal rest.
Bernie was a founder member of of the Mayo branch of the National Union of Journalists. He served a term as chairman and it was during his reign in office that the first Mayo Press Ball, and featuring a ‘Miss Print’, was organised.
He was a noted sportsman. In particular he excelled on the rugby field and was an active member of the Castlebar club for many seasons.
However, his real passion was for angling - something of a family failing. He was a skilled trout angler and was closely identified with many angling organisations in the west Mayo area.
As with The Printer’s Devil, I too accompanied Bernie for several years on paper deliveries in his Cortina RIZ-699, which he christened ‘Betsy’.
Poor ‘Betsy’ broke down on many occasions. One time near the Halfway House in Islandeady, we walked to the Gaiety Ballroom where there was a dance in progress and he got a lift into Castlebar.
Another night we collided with a badger on the Pontoon-Lahardane road which damaged the radiator and it started leaking. There was plenty of water beside us in Lough Conn but we lacked a container in which to get it.
However, not to be outdone, Bernie produced two bottles of stout from the boot, which we drank and then used to fill the radiator.
We got as far as Healy’s Hotel in Pontoon when we topped it up again and with two bottles full of water we hit for Castlebar but only managed to get as far as Clydagh bridge when we had to abandon the vehicle and set off on foot.
Thankfully, a passing motorist, coming from a wedding, took pity on us and dropped us into Castlebar at 5 a.m.
Bernie was the youngest son of Thomas H. and Katherine Gillespie. He married Mary Healy of Healy’s Hotel and they had four children - sons Brian (RIP) and Richard and daughters Catherine and Ann.