19 October 2023
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Dr Sarah McCloskey, CEO, along with Mr Peter O’Sullivan, Chairman, the Board of Directors, the executive management team, our staff, patients, volunteers, and all involved with Marymount wish to express their sincerest condolences on the recent news that Mr Chuck Feeney has died peacefully at his home in San Francisco.
The Atlantic Philanthropies were founded by entrepreneur Chuck Feeney who decided in 1982 to devote his wealth to the service of humanity. A champion of Giving While Living, Mr. Feeney long maintained that people of wealth should use it to better the world during their lifetimes.
Chuck Feeny had strong Irish connections and had heard of Marymount (formally St Patrick’s Hospital Wellington Road) back in the early 2000’s. Most importantly, Mr Feeney had heard about future plans to develop a state-of-the-art facility that would better serve the people of Cork, living with a life limiting illness and those requiring long term elderly care.
Through Atlantic, Chuck Feeney initially assisted Marymount Hospice to research best practice in palliative care services and hospice building design. The ultimate goal he set was to improve the standard of palliative care services in the Republic of Ireland with the Health Service Executive by supporting the construction of a new prototype hospice building.
Chuck Feeney’s involvement with Marymount resulted in a new facility set on a 12-acre site in Curraheen Cork. The new hospice was the first in Ireland to develop an all ensuite single room facility for palliative care with scope for relatives to stay overnight. He shared with us a vision as well as an extreme generosity, donating 10 million Euros to the project. We moved into the new hospice in September 2011 and our hospital/ hospice continues to develop in line with best practice and most of all with patients and families at the centre of all that we do. The facility supports in-patient care and is the hub for outreach community care across Cork city and county. We at Marymount support more than 3000 families per year to navigate the most challenging times while also enabling people to live to their fullest potential despite a life limiting illness. Our goals and values continue to be achieved due to the significant and most humbling generosity of Chuck Feeney.
We thank him and his family and all at Atlantic Philanthropies for the lasting legacy of Marymount. On behalf of all of us, we wish and share our sincerest condolences.
May he rest in peace.
Related content
A Documentary, produced for Irish television by RTÉ Factual, describes the life of Chuck Feeney, philanthropist and founder of The Atlantic Philanthropies.