Deirdre (Derry) St. John
(née Peavoy)

Deirdre (Derry) St. John (née Peavoy) died on the 2nd of December 2020, following two months of intensive care and heart surgery, in the Royal Sussex University Hospital, Brighton (UK).  Originally from St. Ignatius Road in Dublin, Deirdre spent many years as a school teacher in Texas and California, including 11 years as a teaching nun with the Sisters of the Incarnate Word.  She resettled firstly in Ireland then in the UK always continuing to teach, and was much loved as the unofficial head of her extended Peavoy and Pollard families in the UK and Ireland.

Deirdre is survived and deeply missed by her daughter Tara, granddaughter Juno, her brothers Rory, Dermot (Diarmuid) and Brendan, her former husband William, her extended family of cousins, nieces, nephews and friends in the UK, USA and Ireland, including her parish community in Brighton.

Pandemic conditions allowed for a Funeral Mass with reduced attendance on 30 January  2021 in St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Brighton. Mourners unable to attend, due to COVID19 restrictions, were thankfully able to participate via Zoom and YouTube. Mass was followed by cremation.

Deirdre will be remembered at a memorial Mass in the Saint Ignatius Chapel, St Francis Xavier’s Jesuit church, Gardiner Street, Dublin D01 TX23, at 11:00 on Saturday 03 June 2023.  Her ashes will be brought for interment directly afterwards, to Mount Jerome Cemetery, Harold’s Cross, Dublin D6W YY20. A portion of the ashes will be scattered the following day on her beloved Howth Head, Dublin.

Donations in memory of Deirdre can be made to the UK homeless charity Shelter via this link  http://www.justgiving.com/deirdrestjohn, or to the Irish domestic violence support agency Women’s Aid via the ‘Donate’ facility on their website www.womensaid.ie.