ON March 8th, John Anthony Cogan passed away peacefully in the North West Hospice in Sligo after a prolonged battle with cancer. Members of the Irish Draught Society joined with the local community, to form a guard of honour to line the roads to the church in Ballyrush.
If it wasn’t for the Covid-19 restrictions, his farewell would have been a three-day event to give him the send-off he deserved as many have a story to tell of some good turn John A did for them.
John A started working in the North Connaught Farmers Co-op when he was 14. Making butter progressed to collecting milk and then delivering meal and fertiliser. He was as strong as an ox and he had forearms like pistons from loading and unloading bags of meal on lorries by hand.
He drew pulp from the sugar factories and ration from mills as far away as Farranfore in Co Kerry to the North West, often making these runs seven days a week. He eventually had his own fleet of lorries and he drew butter to Dublin with cement from Drogheda and fertiliser from Arklow as backloads. He started doing runs for Union Foods in Ballisodare distributing alcohol and he used say he was one of the few men in Ireland who was saved by drink.
He was a great man for animals and through hard graft, he grew from Corlisheen, acquired land in Castlebaldwin and then his portion of the Curley mountains overlooking Lough Arrow.
Nature and music
He wasn’t a religious man in the conventional sense but he was a spiritual man who loved nature, the land and he appreciated the simple things in life. He had a great sense of values, was a humble man but he loved people and craic. He loved traditional music and used to steal energy from live sessions and he ran many a good evening fundraising for the Irish Draught Society.
He had a gift in that he could relate to people at all levels in society and from all walks of life. He was a great listener, which is a fine quality, and he was respectful of everybody but in awe of nobody. Over the years, lots of people have worked with John A in Corlisheen and he loved how well they did afterwards and they have good memories of their time with him. An eco-retreat centre, the Gyreum, was built close to his home 20 years ago and he loved engaging with the different people from all over the world who visited it, finding out about their customs and cultures.
Irish Draughts
His father ploughed with horses and 51 years ago, he acquired his first Irish Draught mare, Miss Gethins. Her descendants are still in his herd and she also went on to become one of the foundation mares in Suma Stud.
John A was an elected member of the Horse Board and spent time as a Director of Horse Sport Ireland. He was very knowledgeable about horses and he bred event horses that went to the European and World Championships including Grass Valley, ridden by Mark Todd, Riverstown Express (Melanie Young), Union Fortunus, (Phoebe Locke). Recently his Cruising half-sister to Grassvalley bred his namesake, “John A”, campaigned successfully in Ireland by Michael McNally and now with Susie Berry.
His last equine venture was to transfer a selection of Irish Draught mares and a young stallion, reared adjacent to the Neolithic Carrowkeel tombs on his beloved Curlews, to form a heritage herd on the Devenish Nutrition Research Farm, containing the Neolithic tombs at Dowth, in the Boyne Valley.
Three and a half years ago a bombshell went off in his life when he got the diagnosis of prostate cancer spread to the bone. Despite a grave prognosis, he didn’t give up. Lesser men would have thrown in the towel but he had an able comrade-in-arms on his final journey – his soulmate and companion Elizabeth Deane, as he said: “I hit the jackpot when I married Elizabeth in 2018.”
Journey shared
He had tough times over the last few years, and very tough times over the last few months but nobody could have done more for him than Elizabeth – she was with him every step of the way. The physical care was one thing but the mental lift that Elizabeth gave him daily was only phenomenal – John A knew he was not on this journey alone.
Irish men are not known for being romantic but John A, for a tough hard rock of a man, wasn’t afraid to say he was proud that Elizabeth was his wife and to say that he loved her dearly. Not many Irish males say that about their wives, at least when they were alive! So we should all take a lesson from John A and tell the people that are special to us that we love them when they are still with us.
John A was a realist and he knew his diagnosis, he even joked about dying – when he was getting the suit for his wedding, the draper was giving him a bright suit and John A said, ‘No I don’t want one too flash as I might have another job for it before too long’.
He got out in the yard on his crutches every chance he could and when he could climb into the tractor, he’d do jobs in the yard and head for the mountain. He used say the blood transfusions were like rocket fuel. But the most recent transfusion gave him no lift. He wanted to die in Corlisheen but he got the next best thing, he died peacefully in the hospice with the woman he loved by his side.
Condolences to his brothers and sisters, his extended family and his many friends and many thanks to his GP and the hospital and hospice staff. Men of John A’s calibre are rare and those who knew him can count themselves lucky.
P.W.