Dear family, hither & yon 

You’ve heard it said: we don’t have friends, only family, & so many of us, all of us, when you think about it ,  Mick welcomed  into his Irish family.  It’s like:  the door is always open:  tea at four in the afternoon.  You do not  need to knock. 

We, his personal family, which was truly also his musical family.    Not only of the Irish jigs & reels but he truly knew the heart-beat, lyrics, the melody the songs which told 
his own history and thus the history of Ireland from “The Rising of the Moon to the Ryan Road” to mention just a couple.  
 
Thus I write a family letter of such sorrow of our brother, our uncle, our mentor, our hero Mick Moloney.  Not to remind you he is gone. 

Only to remind you, all of us, in our sorrow… of how ‘Irish Mick Moloney the greatest – certainly without doubt the most influential of all the great modern Irish musician geniuses ‘stepped off 
The stage with dignity and respect. Died, not in a aseptic hospital bed with a no visitors sign, but died, sitting in a chair, surrounded, guarded  by his beloved and cherished musical instruments, especially his tenor banjo plus others – his most powerful weapons which he fine-tuned into lethal weapons of peace,  by which his whole life he brought peace & beauty  - the real and the poetic Ireland alive to the world, and taught so many of us ‘how to live Irish.   And You know that.  But to tell you  how we miss such a man who brought traditional Irish music, Irish poetry, song after song. 

And besides his own special joy and happiness of his special gift to us & our children, he also gave us Traditional Thai music & dance.  Each week now, for seven years we have formal traditional rural Thai music & Dance, began by Mick, supported by his fabulous group & concert played in Hell’s Kitchen in New York yearly.
To quote a mutual friend – now also in heaven with Mick: ‘To make our children even more beautiful.   

For Mick of Ireland  The last round of applause really – how he stepped off the stage with such dignity. 

For today:   we have asked our Buddhist children to go to the temple and make an offering to remember and make merit for the soul of Uncle Mick and I have said  Holy Mass today and we have had a ‘mercy centre type concert’ here among ourselves to remember Mick and how …. Because of him… we have our glorious music program and how he and the wonderful Irish folks have their yearly performance for us in Hell’s Kitchen in New York to support our music program.  But no matter what, our music program shall continue. 

I have been asked:  what happens now with Mick gone.  My answer is:  The Show goes on.  Seven years ago, together with Dr Terry Miller, & helped by other  valiant souls, we began our Traditional Thai Dance & Music – every Sunday – our own three hour practice/performance.  Today is carries on: fabulous.   For myself, one of my memories of Mick is when we visited Tory Island and said Holy Mass there with  King Patsy Dan & the Catholic Community and then sailed on to the outer Hebrides.  

All for now.  Blessings to you all.  The  show goes on.  I will be in touch soon.   Prayers for Mick.  That old song:  may his soul stop for just a moment on his way to
Heaven at that Cathedral in Cork.  Blessings to us all.   Fr. Joe & all of us.