Linda Hickey died peacefully at home on September 13th, 2026, surrounded by the people she loved.

Linda was born in Dublin City on November 11th, 1964 to John and Brigitte Hickey. She was the third youngest of twelve children, six brothers and five sisters and grew up in Dublin during the 1960s and 70s.

She was immensely proud of being Irish and remained deeply connected to Dublin and to Ireland throughout her life. She loved Irish history, music, people and, above all, the craic. Some of her happiest childhood memories were of summers spent at the family holiday home in Donabate. Despite growing up in such a large family, Linda always said she wanted for nothing.

From an early age Linda was compassionate, perceptive and extraordinarily good at understanding people. She had a razor-sharp wit, a huge range of talents and a remarkable ability to make people laugh.

Linda was a much loved daughter, sister, aunt, partner, wife, mother and grandmother. She had particularly special relationships with her many nieces and nephews and maintained those friendships and family connections throughout their adult lives.

She married Marty McCormack when she was eighteen and they shared many happy years together before eventually taking separate paths. Linda worked at Arnotts Department Store and the Westbury Hotel in Dublin and also lived and worked in Jersey and London. Wherever she went, she made genuine friendships that lasted a lifetime.

Linda met Daryl in Dublin in 2001 and soon afterwards relocated from Ireland to Ely in the UK. Their twin boys Sean and Aaron, were born in May 2002.

She was a wonderful Mum and later became Mum to Daryl’s older children, Harry and Megan - loving them with exactly the same devotion. There is perhaps 90% of Linda in Sean and Aaron, but there is also a very large piece of her in Harry and Megan.

In June 2024, Linda also became a surrogate grandmother to Harry and Alex’s son, River. She was enormously proud to have him in her life and delighted in her new role as a grandmother. After everything she had already been to the children and family, River gave her another little person to love and there is now a little piece of Linda in him too.

Linda loved people. She loved good company, long conversations, laughter, music and sitting around a table with friends and family. She was warm, generous and welcoming, and had a wonderful ability to make people feel that they mattered.

Her friendships stretched across every part of her life - childhood in Dublin, work, the years when the boys were young, the gym and spinning, golf, holidays, Spain and the many people she met along the way. She collected friends wherever she went, but more importantly, she kept them.

As her children became more independent, Linda set up and ran a ladies only gym in Ely, creating a place where women could exercise, socialise and support one another. She loved keeping fit and became particularly enthusiastic about spinning, making yet more friendships along the way.

She later took up golf at Ely City Golf Club. Linda approached it in typical fashion - learning the rules, studying the technique in detail and was determined to become good at it, which she did. But the people and friendships were every bit as important as the golf itself. She loved the ladies, the tournaments, the trips, the social occasions and, of course, the latest golf clothes. Linda became a much loved and integral part of Ely City Golf Club.

Spain was another great love of her life. Linda and the boys spent many summers at their first house in La Manga, enjoying the sunshine, freedom, lifestyle, food and most importantly the people. Over the years she built a huge circle of Spanish friends and shared countless happy days and nights with them - lunches, golf, boats, the Mar Menor, music and evenings that sometimes stretched into the early hours.

Linda was not always quite as organised as she liked to think she was. On one occasion, while in Spain, her phone rang. It was the taxi driver waiting at Stansted to take them home. The family had forgotten to go home following a long summer..
Not deliberately, of course. They had simply forgotten.

There are countless stories like that.

She loved travel and experiences - walking in Switzerland with the boys, travelling through Austria, cycling around the ten lakes from Salzburg, and memorable trips to the Dolomites in Moena with Megan, her husband and his Italian family. Linda never simply wanted to visit somewhere. She wanted to experience it with people she loved.

One particularly memorable weekend was a trip to La Manga Club with Claire and Lee. Four days of wonderful company, the best food, the finest wine and absolutely nowhere else that they needed to be. It was Linda at her happiest — making ordinary time extraordinary.

Ireland, however, was always home.

One of Daryl’s favourite memories was a weekend in Dublin at TradFest with Martin and Lisa. Linda organised everything with her usual precision - booking tickets for the standout musicians and making sure they experienced the very best of Dublin’s music and pub scene. She eventually rounded off the weekend at Johnny Fox’s in the Dublin mountains for an evening of Irish entertainment.

It was, quite simply one of the best weekends ever.

Music was woven through Linda’s life. She loved Irish music, live music, concerts and songs that carried memories. She introduced people to music, places, food and experiences, and always seemed to know where the next great evening was to be found.

Linda adored her dogs, Izzy and Buster and they were very much part of the family. She even took them to Spain.

She could also be wonderfully, hilariously Linda. She could organise an entire holiday but forget the battery for the golf buggy. She might forget something important, but her golf outfit would always be absolutely right.

She was organised and chaotic, funny and serious, determined and competitive, generous and stubborn, persuasive and completely herself.

You always knew when Linda was in the room.

Linda was also a deeply spiritual person. Her beliefs developed and broadened throughout her life, but at their heart was a simple conviction that this physical life is not the end, and that the soul continues on its own journey.

Perhaps nothing captured Linda’s outlook better than one of the sayings she often used:

“What’s for you won’t pass you by.”

Linda faced her illness with extraordinary courage and determination. Even during the most difficult times she continued to enjoy her family, her friendships and the things that gave her happiness for as long as she could.

The love and support surrounding her during her illness was extraordinary. Friends travelled to be with her, neighbours cared for her, people called and messaged, and family remained close. It was a reflection of the huge circle of love that Linda had built throughout her life.
Particular acknowledgement goes out to Linda's Son's and Ella - Seán's Partner and Daryl's Mother all of whom travelled upon the journey with Linda and provided an unmeasurable level of support and comfort to Linda. 

Linda leaves behind her family and an enormous number of friends whose lives have been made richer by having known her.

She will be deeply missed.

But she will also be remembered with enormous love, laughter and affection.

We would like to thank everyone who supported Linda, and all of us, throughout her illness and since her passing.

Whether you were there in person, sent a message, made a phone call, offered a kind word, cooked a meal, travelled to see her, or simply kept Linda and our family in your thoughts, every gesture has meant more than we can express.

We are enormously grateful for the love, friendship and support that surrounded Linda throughout her life, and particularly during her final months.

She was lucky to have so many wonderful people in her life - and so are we.

If you are unable to join us at the service, please join us via the webcast link below.
https://youtube.com/live/WUX8xfTkr9Q?feature=share