Death of former Irish Ambassador from Athlone

Frank Sheridan, who grew up in Athlone and went on to have a highly successful career in international diplomacy, including serving for spells as Ireland's Ambassador to Mozambique and Brazil, has died.

Mr Sheridan, whose wife Rita (nee Tighe) is also from the Athlone area, passed away peacefully in the care of the staff of the Beacon Hospital last Saturday, February 21.

He had been living in Bray following his retirement from the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2014, after he had been serving as the Irish Ambassador to Brazil.

Born in Longford in 1949, Frank Sheridan's father, Tom, was in the Army and his transfer to Athlone in 1957 saw the family move to St Ruth's Park.

Frank attended the Dean Kelly National School and St Aloysius College and, while repeating his Leaving Cert, he met his wife-to-be Rita Tighe from Portaneena, Glasson. The couple married in Rome in 1973.

His diplomatic career began in Dublin and he was then posted to Washington DC for several years in the late 1970s and early '80s. In 1987 he was sent to Zambia, where he worked for four years on an aid programme.

In the early '90s, Mr Sheridan returned to the United States, where he served as Consul General in Chicago, a role in which oversaw matters relating to the Irish-American community across 20 US States.

One of his tasks during that time involved visiting the scene of the 1995 Oklahoma city bombing, in which 167 people were killed, to monitor the atrocity's aftermath on behalf of the Irish Government.

He returned to Ireland in 1998, but was on the move again in 2005 when he took up his first post as an Irish Ambassador, in Mozambique. He spent five years there before moving continents, in 2010, to become the Irish Ambassador to Brazil, a role he held until retirement in 2014.

He maintained his family connection to Athlone over the years, and in 2022 delivered an Old Athlone Society lecture, in the Sheraton Hotel, about the negotiations which led to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in the mid-80s.

In a 2012 interview with the Westmeath Independent, Mr Sheridan said the travel which his career entailed had been both an advantage and a disadvantage.

While he had missed out on making the connections that came with remaining in the same area for years, he had seen and done many things that most people would never get the chance to experience.

"Everywhere you go there are huge opportunities. Everywhere has its own charms," he said.

One of the tributes paid to him after his passing, from a former Department of Foreign Affairs colleague, described him as having "a positive, wise and thoughtful presence".

"His humour, energy and overall soundness made him a delightful colleague, and I feel fortunate to have known him," the tribute stated.

Frank Sheridan is remembered with love by his wife and best friend Rita, daughters Niamh and Emer, son Eoin, sons-in-law Sean and Greg, daughter-in-law Jessie, grandchildren Angus, Douglas, Emily, Eli, Leo, Fiadh and Caelan, brother Michael, sister-in-law Brigid, nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.

He will be reposing in Colliers Funeral Home, Old Connaught Avenue, Bray this evening (Thursday) from 4pm to 6pm, with funeral Mass tomorrow at 11am in St Fergal's Church, Boghall Road, Bray followed by cremation in Mount Jerome, Harold’s Cross, Dublin.

May he rest in peace.