Priest and genealogist to attend burial of Irishman who died alone in England

An Irishman who was the subject of a public appeal to find his relatives will be buried in Birmingham, England on Friday.

John Joseph Gill (86), originally from Delvin in Co Westmeath, died on November 25th. His last-known address was Whitehouse Common Road in Sutton Coldfield. Ten days after his death, Birmingham City Council issued a public appeal for information as no relatives came forward so a death certificate could be issued.

Relatives of Mr Gill were later traced by Erin Research, an Irish firm specialising in tracing probate beneficiaries and unknown next-of-kin.

Mr Gill’s burial is to take place at Sutton New Hall Cemetery in Sutton Coldfield on Friday at 3pm. There will be no funeral Mass as Birmingham City Council social services do not provide a budget for religious services.

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Fr Anton Guziel, a Catholic priest in the Birmingham diocese who used to bring communion to Mr Gill every fortnight at the Hawthorns Care Home, is to officiate at the burial.

Fr Guziel was surprised to find after Mr Gill’s death that he was the only visitor the Irishman had in the 14 years he was in the care home. “I didn’t know he did not have other visitors, but I suspected it to be the case. It was my duty. I take communion to the housebound every week and he was one of the gentlemen I was visiting.”

The priest said Mr Gill was a quiet man and not given to much more than small talk. “I have come across lots of elderly Irish gentlemen who would have been living in bedsits all the time and lost contact with lots of people,” he said.

“When I was in Coventry as a curate, I would visit these chaps. They would work all day, come in, have a wash and go to the Catholic club or the Irish club, have a pint or two and go home. It was the same thing every day.”

Probate genealogist Padraic Grennan established that Mr Gill had been estranged from his family for 50 years and that he has two surviving siblings, a brother in Canada and a sister in New York. He has a nephew living in New York and there are a niece and nephew of a deceased sister living in the UK, one in London and the other in Birmingham.

Mr Grennan said he will attend the burial on Friday to ensure that somebody turns up for it. He is also hopeful that Mr Gill’s relatives in the UK will attend along with members of the Irish community.