Children’s panel member and charity worker
Born: August 27, 1939;
Died: July 16, 2017
IRENE McLean, who has died aged 77, was a tireless fund-raiser for charity and a children's panel member. Charities ranging from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (RSPCC) to Parkinson UK benefited from her good works.
She was proud of her four children and their achievements, but was well aware that many other children had a much tougher start in life. Her role as vice chairperson of the children's panel in West Dunbartonshire gave her the opportunity to give practical help. As president of the local branch of the RSPCC, she also organised fund-raising parties and nearly new sales in church and community halls.
Her fellow RSPCC committee members remember her as a brilliantly efficient organiser, someone who could work out how to get three trays of vol-au-vents to Dumbarton Castle at an hour's notice or able to find a useful home for left over bric-a-brac after a bring and buy sale.
Her service to the community was marked by the Lord Lieutenant with invitations to the Royal Garden Party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on two occasions in the 1980s.
Her eldest son, Michael, told the large congregation at her funeral in St Patrick’s Church, Dumbarton: “Above all, they remembered my mother’s sense of joy at being able to have a really good time, but still raise money for important charity work.
“It was the kind of bargain she loved – a two-for-one on the stuff that really matters. And something she continued throughout her life.
“She regularly spotted appeals on television which made her reach for the chequebook and she joined a family table at last year's ladies lunch for Parkinson's UK.
“Just last weekend, she was delighted to sponsor and follow the progress of her grandson David, as he cycled from London to Paris for a breast cancer charity.”
Irene McLean was born in the Saltmarket area of Glasgow in 1939, to George and Agnes McBride, who named her Irene after the Greek goddess of peace, and many early saints.
Their baby girl brought much joy, but not the peace they wished for. Within a week, war had been declared.
It meant an unsettled childhood for Irene and her brother Ian. She grew up with rationing, and had to move in temporarily with aunties in a safer part of the city, but she took it all in her stride – she was a happy, inquisitive, sociable girl, who loved meeting new people.
School was just one of those opportunities – Our Lady and St Francis, known by everyone who went there as Charlotte Street. She went to Lourdes, Rome and Assisi with the school and made lifelong attachments to the pupils and teachers.
But the big Dumbarton connection was Ken McLean. Michael said they recently discovered a beautiful letter from 21-year-old Ken to 17-year-old Irene, which was “full of fun, and laughter and a first declaration of love which would last six decades”.
Ken was the youngest of seven boys, and Irene loved her friendly extended family, not least her new sisters-in-law and on August 29, 1959, they were married in St Thomas's Church in Riddrie.
Not long after, Ken found work in the finance department of the famous Hiram Walker Scotch whisky distillery, and the couple set up home in Dumbarton.
Irene went from working in the Post Office telephone exchange in Glasgow to jobs at a news agency; the Inland Revenue, and later as the chief invigilator of examinations at St Patrick's High School.
She was a calm and organised voice in the Fitzgerald Owens News Agency in Church Street, Dumbarton, one of the biggest and busiest in Scotland in the 1960s.
She was the office secretary and copy taker and more importantly in charge of the petty cash.
Michael, the first of the McLean children, was born in 1964 followed by Pauline, Claire and Kenneth.
The family home in Dumbarton had important connections for Irene because it had been owned previously by May Galloway, one of her teachers at Charlotte Street and was named after the grotto at Lourdes.
Michael, who gave the eulogy, said: “My mother loved a party or any social occasion and there were plenty of celebrations, from her own golden wedding in 2009, to our own weddings.
“And she loved people – so the fact that those weddings brought her two new daughters in law – Linda and Elise, and two new sons in law, Gary and Craig – was a particular delight.”
Five McLean grandchildren, Andrew, David, Hannah, John and Ben, meant even more parties.
The McLeans spent their retirement travelling in Cyprus, Malta and Italy and, in 1999, they celebrated Irene’s 60th birthday by travelling to Paris on board the Orient Express.
She collapsed and died while tending the roses planted in their garden by her late husband, Kenneth. She is survived by her children and grandchildren.
BILL HEANEY
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here