‘She has entered heaven’s winners enclosure’ – Funeral of Maureen Mullins bids farewell to Irish racing’s matriarch

The Church of the Holy Trinity, Goresbridge was not big enough to hold all the lives that Maureen inspired, as a mass of mourners gathered outside the church to pay their respects to the horse racing legend.

The Mullins name is synonymous with horse racing, and while Maureen has joined “the winners enclosure in heaven”, her children and grandchildren will ensure the legend of the Mullins name will remain on top of horse racing podiums across the country.

While Maureen has “finished her last race” and has been reunited with her late husband, Paddy Mullins who passed away in 2010, the impact she had on the racing world will continue to be felt for years to come.

That impact was evident in some of the biggest names in horseracing who had travelled to Friday’s funeral to pay their final respects, including trainers Jim Bolger, Dermot Weld, Gordon Elliott, Noel Meade, Paul Nolan and Ted Walsh.

“It was an amazing story from the start to the finish for my mother,” said an emotional Tony Mullins. “Unfortunately it’s now over.”

But today was not a day for mourning, but a day for celebration as Tony Mullins, on behalf of his brothers Willie, Tom and George and sister Sandra, paid tribute to the their “amazing” mother.

"I was thinking to myself how I would start this eulogy, but there is nowhere to start as she was always just there, all the time, whether it was a good day or a bad day, our mother was always there.

"Just to give an example of the type of woman she was, in the early 1930s, her father had a plough horse and she just tacked him up one morning to go to the local hunt. Her father, on seeing her going down the avenue, he ran out after her and told her he needed the horse. She just waved at him and never looked back and I think her life continued right up until the last weeks in the same fashion,” laughed Tony.

One word that cropped up time and time again during the mass was the use of the word “positive” to describe Maureen Mullins.

Tony echoed this sentiment as he recalled how even on the bad days, his mother remained positive for those around her.

"Even though we had bad times she was always there for every single one of us to buck us up and keep us going.

"She had a belief in success. I remember a couple of years ago when Willie won the first race and the second race – which he is doing every year now,” chuckled Tony. “But anyways at that stage it was a new thing and she said to me ‘did you get to meet so and so’ and I said ‘no I didn’t get to see them’ and she said ‘ah don’t worry he will win the next race and you will get to meet them then’.”

Her belief in her five children and ten grandchildren was unwavering. If they didn’t believe in themselves, she most definitely did.

That unwavering belief was never more evident as her final winning bet, where she backed her grandson Charlie, placing €20 on his mount Coco Masterpiece in the last race in Thurles on Tuesday right, before her death.

"Maureen Mullins has finished her last race,” said Father James Kelly. "This great gathering today reminds me of many race meetings Maureen attended and the numerous winners she had. She entered the winners enclosure countless times to receive her prize or to see her family receive their prize. The winners enclosure is a special place and she now enters heaven’s winners enclosure.

"Maureen has been reunited with her beloved Paddy and all her loved ones gone before her. It will be a welcome as loud as a Cheltenham roar,” smiled Fr Kelly.

"Maureen and her husband Paddy have left behind them an incredible legacy through their wonderful family, all the generations. Today is a day to mourn her passing, but it is also a celebration of a life well and fully lived. She had a tremendous passion for sport and loved the horses from an early age.”

While Maureen was surrounded by the success of her family on the racing track, she rode one winner from her sole ride on the track when she beat her daughter Sandra at Gowran Park in 1982. That win came aboard Razzo Forte in a race for wives and daughters of trainers.

Maureen passed away aged 94 on Wednesday following a short illness. While she will be remembered as one of the faces of the Irish horse racing community, she will be remembered by those closet to her as a beloved mother, grandmother and sister who would do anything for her family.

"Cheltenham was her piece of heaven,” sighed Tony. “Hopefully there is a Cheltenham in heaven for her now.”