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Obituary For... Iris Claire Chavasse |
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An appreciation of her life, 29 April 1936 - 9 August 2007
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Obituary For... Iris Claire Chavasse |
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An appreciation of her life, 29 April 1936 - 9 August 2007
ON THURSDAY 9 August
Irish beekeepers lost one of their best loved and most valued members. Claire Chavasse passed away peacefully in her sleep. She had battled against cancer on three separate occasions. In one of her articles in An Beachaire she described how her bees and beekeeping activities helped her to recover from her first bout of this dreaded disease. As a result of that recovery she went on to enrich our lives and impart her store of knowledge for a good number of years.
GORMANSTON
It was typical of her indomitable spirit that she was present at the Gormanston Summer Course just two weeks before she died. She was one of a group of brilliant lecturers who have had a tremendous impact on this course in recent years. Claire had a way of imparting knowledge which appealed especially to beginners so that they were left with a lasting impression of this lovely lady who was both advisor and counsellor during their first faltering footsteps in the craft.
COUNTY WATERFORD BKA
Claire was Secretary of Co. Waterford Beekeepers' Association for a number of years where she also held classes for beginners. From her first introduction to beekeeping she progressed rapidly in her own studies on the theory and practice of beekeeping, taking in her stride the various examinations of the Federation of Irish Beekeeping Association (FIBKA) until she took her lecturer's examination in 1998. In 2003 she gained her National Diploma in Science (Apiculture) at the Cork Institute of Technology.
HONEY SHOW SUCCESSES
Claire Chavasse developed a keen interest in all aspects of beekeeping. She was a very successful exhibitor at Honey Shows and specialised in chunk honey, for which she won the highest awards at all the major honey shows including the Irish and British National Honey Shows and a gold medal at the World Honey Show held at Apimondia 2005.
She also proved her skill as a writer on beekeeping subjects when she won two firsts and a second prize in the British Beekeepers' Association (BBKA) Essay class between 2000 and 2003. She really enjoyed her visits to the London Honey Show and took great pride in the successes of the Irish beekeeping contingent.
BEE IMPROVEMENT
Claire Chavasse had a keen interest in bee improvement and conservation of the native strains of dark European bees of Co. Waterford. She was a member of The Galtee Bee Breeding Group (GBBG) and also of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association (BIBBA) and contributed articles to the Bee Improvement magazine.
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Claire was most widely known in GBBG as the first editor of our quarterly newsletter, The Four Seasons - Ceithre Raithe na Bliana. Members of GBBG often referred to her as 'The Queen Bee'. As the queen sends out pheromones within the hive, Claire dispersed news and information to her breeding group members by means of the newsletter.
She was extremely successful in getting even the most reluctant members of GBBG to write articles for her newsletter. When you saw Claire approaching you at a bee meeting with a twinkle in her eye and a sweet smile you could rest assured that you had to write an article for the next edition of the newsletter.
AT HER FUNERAL
Claire Chavasse was laid to rest in a lovely old graveyard on a gently sloping hillside surrounded by old trees and forestry plantations amid the rich rolling countryside of West Waterford. The large attendance included many beekeepers. Her fellow members of GBBG and BIBBA from many parts of Ireland and England formed a guard of honour at her graveside.
As her coffin was borne past, bees flew out from a feral colony in the roof of the old church beside her grave as if in final salutation. It reminded us of the last words of The Beemaster's Prayer as read during the funeral service in St Cartage's Cathedral, Lismore, by her good friend Sally Perceval Maxwell: let there be bees in heavenly places, Let there be bees.
Claire leaves behind her a devoted husband Hal, three sons Charles, Dan and Desmond, a large extended family and wide circle of friends and relations, to all of whom we extend our sincere condolences.
Micheál Mac Giolla Coda
[A similar text to this was published in Bee Craft during August 2007. The Beemaster's Prayer is on the 'Four Seasons' link in the menu at top left.]
Originated... August 2007, Transcribed... 04 September 2007,
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