We lost the “Big Fella” on August 22nd after a long illness which in typical John fashion was borne with dignity. John Burke was a character who resided in Bungalow 1, Rosepark for the past six years. He was known far and wide in the local community especially amongst the bars and restaurants which he frequented. In Rosepark he was family.
John always had a remarkable outlook on life. As a young man he suffered a brain haemorrhage which left him with a speech impediment and loss of power on one side. He still remained positive and got on with life. He had worked in the rag trade and as a result was a dapper dresser. It was only logical that to display his clobber he frequented the bars and restaurants in the locality. Blackrock counted for The Breffni, Kellys and Cooper, Kings and La Pastis. Monkstown merited visits to FXB’s, Goggins, Victoria and the jewel in his crown That’s Amore. His offside venues included The Leapordstown Inn and Crowes in Ballsbridge. As you can see John was not someone who sat in on the sofa. Life was meant to be lived. Better still, everyone knew John in these venues where he would engage in conversation mostly about sport and food. He was a fanatical rugby follower and was proud of the fact that he held the title of President for Life of Crowbars, the social club (dubious) of Wanderers Rugby Club.
The turnout for John’s funeral reflected the love with which John was held in the community. The theme of his oration was “Everyone loved John Burke” ably given by his old pal from Wanderers James “Jazz” Murphy. Never was a theme more appropriate. As is usual nuggets of information emerge at Irish funerals. In this instance we found out that John was the apple of his mother’s eye….could do no wrong , a real Mammy’s boy. God if we only knew this when he was alive, he would have got a right ribbing.
John in Winter 2018
Even with his disability John had no inhibitions in introducing himself to complete strangers and developing lasting friendships. As a result, it is not surprising that people stop me in the street to talk about him. John had limited vocabulary due to his stroke and he used some words very frequently. One of his favourite words was “fantastic”. It is a word which perfectly describes our lovable rogue. You are sadly missed by all your pals in Rosepark.