Connacht Tribune
Life experiences led Breda to take up role as Galway Hospice chaplain
After a decade working as a chaplain in Galway Hospice, Breda Casserly knows more than most about death and the process by which a person comes to terms with the end of their life.
Breda, who retired recently and has written a book on her experience, spent the last decade providing succour to people receiving palliative care, and offering spiritual support to their families.
For Breda, who came to chaplaincy later in life, the wisdom she gained before taking up that role equipped her for the challenges it posed.
“I do believe that lived wisdom and experience I gained throughout my life came to great bearing for my life as a chaplain. You’re dealing with life and death and people at their most vulnerable, so you have to have gained an insight into empathy to do that – you need to have a maturity,” Breda tells the Connacht Tribune.
“I had a business in Galway City – Leonidas Chocolates in Corbett Court – which I sold in 2007. I did have two degrees in theology, a BA and an MA, but I set up the business and I was there for 20 very happy years.”
It was only when a friend of hers, Fr Noel, contacted the Castlegar woman, asking her to visit a young woman dying of cancer that the potential of life as a chaplain came to Breda.
That was in 2007, when she left behind her shop and went to Kerry General Hospital to study Clinical Pastoral Care. In 2010, the job at Galway Hospice came up and she was there until this year, in what she describes as a ‘very privileged position’.
“There’s darkness and light in every life,” says Breda, “and when someone is in their final days and hours, they show all facets of that life.
“As a chaplain, you get the real person. There is no mask. A patient can be very vulnerable and fragile, and when you’re vulnerable, you need to know that your deepest needs are being listened to.
“Really, it’s the job of a chaplain to listen to those deepest needs. Very often, when someone is in the Hospice, or receiving hospice care at home, they’ve gone through a very long illness and treatments. They are coming to us for their final needs, so they’ve gone through all of that. But in many cases, they haven’t shared how that experience was for them.”
As chaplain, listening to those feelings and providing spiritual support is a significant part of the role. So too is trying to help fulfil the final wishes of a patient.
“A person’s last words are often highly valued by family and friends, but so too are their needs at the end of life. Sometimes, that might be to make one last visit to their farm for a few minutes; to see their dog; get their family together in a room; have a family Mass; or have one final look at their home.
“They are often very simple requests, but they are so important. Usually, the patient has come to accept the situation they are in, having gone through fear, doubt and anger, and come out the other side. An inner peace comes from all of that,” explains Breda.
In her book, Lessons from a Bedside, Breda examines her experiences as chaplain. The process of writing was emotional, but she felt compelled to do it – to share those stories and to do justice to the people involved.
The impact of her work has left a lasting legacy with countless families, but it has also given Breda a different perspective on life, prompting her ‘to live life well’.
Having lost two of her own sisters to cancer, long before she came to this work, she knows the pain of bereavement all too well.
“There was no substitute for that lived experience. Really, that’s where I got my ability to empathise with families. I also got the sense of what a cancer diagnosis can impose on a patient and their families,” she says.
And while that required giving a lot of herself to ensure patients and families felt supported, it also required looking after herself.
“Boundaries are very important. In order to be able to give the best care possible to every patient, it is very important to have good, healthy boundaries. At the Hospice, we worked as a team so there was always someone to chat with. We’re all experiencing the same emotions so we were able to share that with respect,” says Breda, who adds that a love of the outdoors and her garden in Oranmore, where she lives, were also a great release.
Covid had arrived in the months before Breda’s retirement. Its impact on the Hospice and the ability of families to be around loved ones in their dying moments has been felt acutely, she says.
“There is limited visiting time with families, so we got to spend a lot more time with patients. That is very significant for the patient because only they can take that journey, but to be accompanied by family and friends eases the journey.
“Covid will have changed that somewhat, but in the Hospice, as a team, we would ensure we were with the patients on that journey too,” says Breda.
Lessons from a Bedside: Wisdom for Living by Breda Casserly, published by Hachette Books Ireland, is available in all good bookstores.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
