The dish

What it makes.

In loving memory

Eleanor Hayes

1942  —  2026

"To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die."

A life well lived

Her Story

Eleanor Margaret Hayes was born on a snowbound morning in March 1942, in the small lake town of Wexford, the second of four children. She grew up among orchards and long summers, the kind of childhood she would later describe as "endless and golden," and she carried that brightness with her for the rest of her eighty-four years.

She trained as a schoolteacher and spent thirty-one years in front of a classroom of nine-year-olds, teaching them long division, the names of the rivers, and — more than anything — that they were capable of more than they believed. Generations of her students kept in touch; her kitchen table was rarely without a letter from one of them propped against the sugar bowl.

"Plant the trees whose shade you'll never sit in," she used to say. "That's the whole secret of it."

In 1968 she married Thomas Hayes, and together they built a home full of music, books with broken spines, and a garden that was never quite finished and never meant to be. They raised three children, welcomed seven grandchildren, and in her final years delighted in two great-grandchildren who knew her simply as "the lady with the good biscuits."

She loved early mornings, strong tea, the first frost, Chopin played a little too loudly, and the company of anyone willing to sit and talk a while. She gardened until her last spring, refused to be hurried, and met the world with a steadiness that made everyone around her feel safer. She was, in the truest sense, a gentle force.

Eleanor passed peacefully at home on the fourteenth of June, surrounded by family, with the windows open and the roses in bloom. She leaves behind not an absence, but a long warm light.

• 1942 Born in Wexford, the second of four
• 1964 Began teaching at Maple Street Primary
• 1968 Married Thomas, her partner of 54 years
• 1971–1979 Welcomed her three children, Claire, David, and Ruth
• 1995 Retired after 31 years; began the rose garden in earnest
• 2026 Passed peacefully at home, surrounded by family

Photographs

Service & Celebration

Memorial Service

Saturday, 5 July 2026 · 11:00 AM
St. Brigid's Chapel
42 Orchard Lane, Wexford

Reception

Following the service · 1:00 PM
The Orchard Room, Wexford Hall
Tea, stories, and Eleanor's own shortbread recipe

Live Stream

Saturday · 11:00 AM (your time)
For family and friends afar
A link will be shared here the morning of the service.

A gift in Eleanor's name

Eleanor asked that, rather than flowers, friends consider a gift to the Wexford Library Literacy Fund — the cause closest to her teacher's heart. Every contribution helps a child find their first favourite book.

The Memory Wall

Memories

“Mrs. Hayes taught me to read aloud without fear. I became a teacher because of her. The whole world is in her debt and doesn't even know it.”
— Margaret O'Dell, class of 1972

“Grandma always saved the corner piece of the cake for me, every single birthday. I'll be saving it for someone else now.”
— Daniel, her grandson

“She brought soup to our door every winter we were unwell, for twenty years, and never once made it feel like an obligation. Just love, quietly delivered.”
— The Carmody family