The Dodson family in Ireland A Biographiocal Note
I came to Ireland as a seven year old with my mother Irene Dodson for a holiday in the summer of 1950. Irene was going to marry Terry Lehane and we stayed in his family home in the tiny village of Glencairn in Co Waterford. What a culture change for a small boy from post war London. I vividly remember the new experiences of mushroom picking, snaring rabbits and fishing in the river Blackwater with the local lads.
After Irene and Terry were married in Dublin in Jan 1951 we lived in Limerick where I grew up with the Lehane family of five brothers and four sisters. I went to school at the CBS Sexton St until I completed my Leaving Certificate examination in 1961 when I joined CIE(National Transport Co).
That summer I met Theresa Yelverton, daughter of Michael and Helena Yelverton on a blind date and we went out together. In 1963 I asked her father’s permission to get married and when he said yes we got engaged and we married in April 1965. We have 4 children, Karen (1966),Paul (1968),Ian (1969) and Suzanne (1971). I worked with CIE first in Limerick, then as Station Master Foynes for a short period. I went to Birr Depot as Freight Superintendent and in 1981 was promoted to District Manager Tralee. When CIE was split into three operating companies in 1987 I came to Limerick as Regional Manager Bus Eireann I retired in 2003 and lived with Theresa in Limerick.
Sadly Theresa was diagnosed with cancer in December 2014 when she had a kidney and tumour removed. Theresa battled bravely with the disease over the following years but we still enjoyed many holidays travelling across Europe in our motorhome. The early months of 2018 were difficult but she still joined in family weekends away in Cloghane Co Kerry. Our children were a fantastic support and Paul and family had come home on a visit but we knew her time was limited. On the morning of 16th July I picked a yellow rose in the garden and whispered the date in her ear and she smiled and she knew (we met on that date 57 years before). That night Theresa passed away peacefully at home in the early hours of 17th July 2018 surrounded by her family. The funeral mass was held in St Mary’s Church Limerick where Theresa was baptised and which she attended every Sunday mouthing the words of the hymns sung by the choir which she loved. Following cremation her ashes were spread on the slopes of Mount Brandon in one of her favourite parts of Kerry just as she wished.
Dodson Family Tree 