Much-loved Áine buried in her wedding dress

ÁINE Wood Wolfe, who died recently after a short illness, always did things a bit differently. 

For starters, she requested that she be buried in her wedding dress.

‘She looked beautiful, but she was always a stylish lady, always elegant. She really had an eye for detail,’ said Anne-Marie McInerney, her art teacher, weekly lunch companion, and friend.

Áine – the wife of the late Frank Wood Wolfe – is survived by her sons Justin and Travers; her daughter Anne Marie; her brother Jim Synnott; relatives and friends.

Frank had been a good businessman, as well as a kindly force within the communities of Skibbereen and Baltimore where they lived, but Áine also showed enterprise and flair and was, in fact, something of a pioneer in opening the first health food store in the area.

Patsy Hegarty, who now owns Ying Yang Wholefoods, said: ‘Áine was a teacher to very many, particularly to me, and she certainly helped a lot of people who needed help at the time.  Áine  had a very caring nature and a great ability to laugh when things didn’t go according to plan.’

Following the funeral mass on Tuesday, Áine (75) was buried alongside her late husband in the family crypt at the old cemetery at Aughadown.

A former kindergarten teacher, Áine was born in Wales, but her parents were from Wexford. When she came to West Cork, she enjoyed being part of its colourful and interesting community. Some said she was ‘ahead of her time’ in opening a wholefoods shop, and the restaurant that followed, but she also made her mark in an equally enduring way when she agreed to sell a town centre site for a vastly reduced sum to facilitate the arts.

West Cork Arts Centre director Ann Davoren said: ‘Áine’s generosity enabled the West Cork Arts Centre to move into a permanent home at Uillinn on the site of the historic Wolfe’s bakery. The building stands today as a legacy to the entire Wood Wolfe family who contributed to the community in many ways.’