Seattle's Irish community has lost a remarkable friend with the sudden death of Eileen Kilgren, the manager at Galway Traders for the past 20 years who passed away on June 4, less than a month after the Irish import store closed.
A Memorial Service for Eileen will be held this Tuesday, June 14, at 12 noon at Carkeek Park, Shelter #1, 950 NW Carkeek Park Road, Seattle. See a Map and Directions at seattle.gov/parks.
Eileen was an enlightened, enthusiastic, and very kind woman, an avid reader and writer, an Irish scholar, and a member of the Irish chorus that sings at the annual Sean O'Riada mass in Gaelic. As manager at Galway Traders for well over twenty years, she helped numerous customers and friends find recordings, books and literature, maps, rings, and family roots. As one of the "Hornpipers," she helped broadcast Sunday's Hornpipe on KBCS, presenting and promoting some of the very best Irish music in town. She acted in Brian Friel's Irish play, "Translations," and danced with the Greenwood Kitchen Dancers and the Northwest Irish Dancers.
Eileen loved walking in nature, exploring the hidden hill climbs of Queen Anne, the boreens (small laneways), footpaths, and sacred places of Ireland which she finally got to visit in 2008, much to her delight. Her enthusiasm and love, not only for Irish music and culture, but for life at large, was infectious. She will be deeply missed by innumerable friends and her loving family.
She is survived by her five children Jeff, Marc, Jolie, Matthew and Kevin, her four brothers Erick, Neil, Roger and Douglas, several grandchildren and numerous other relatives and friends, to all of whom we extend sincere condolences.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam dílis
May her faithful soul be at the right hand of God
For more details and to express your condolences, visit Facebook.com.
