Elderly woman who passed without next of kin was 'very witty' - neighbour

An 81-year-old woman who died without any known relatives has been described as "very witty" and always having "good conversation" by a former neighbour.

An appeal was launched after Margaret Ellen 'Peggy' Murdoch passed away on 9 April in hospital, but no next of kin have come forward.

Funeral director David Jess told BBC News NI that he had been inundated with calls about Margaret and a public funeral has been planned.

Maimie Smith, who was Margaret's neighbour in Antrim for 17 years, said Margaret parked in front of her house and that's how they got speaking.

"She said it was nice to see a younger person, a younger face rather than the elderly in the pensioners' bungalows," she said.

Maimie said that anytime she spoke to Margaret "it was always a joke or something".

Margaret had cats, one of which was called Leo and she used to call his name at teatime everyday to get him to come home for his dinner.

She used to leave her windows open for the cats to come in, no matter the season.

Margaret lived in Lisadian House Nursing Home in Hillsborough and El Shammah Nursing Home, but prior to that she lived in Wilson Street in Lisburn and Seacash Walk in Antrim.

The funeral director said they do not know about her personal circumstances other than that she had a twin brother who predeceased her.

Maimie said that after she heard about Margaret's passing she was speaking to the other neighbours who knew her. One of them, Pastor Bobby, told a funny story.

One day he was cutting the grass with his dog in the garden, and Margaret approached him and said: "Does your wee dog like chicken?".

To which he responded: "Yes", thinking that Margaret was about to give his dog chicken.

But instead, she replied: "My cat loves chicken too." And left it at that.

Aside from her love for a joke and her cat, Margaret enjoyed travelling and makeup.

"She loved her holidays. She loved going to Spain. She loved going to Turkey. She loved getting away two or three times a year," Maimie said.

Margaret also apparently worked in a few charity shops in Antrim and "loved going down to wee Alfies Café in the town".

"You would have seen her with her trolley and always down getting her shopping and calling in for a wee bite to eat," Maimie said.

"And we had a bit of a yarn there too, you know."

Maimie said Margaret was kind and used to help out her neighbour who was quite frail.

She added that Margaret was a Jehovah Witness, having attended the church in Antrim.

Meanwhile, the funeral director said a number of people have promised to come to Margaret's funeral, which will be held at Ronnie Thompson's Funeral Church in Lisburn on Tuesday.

"We had hoped, given that widespread circulation, that someone [next of kin] would have been found by now, but doesn't seem to be the case," he said.

However, David said that "even before the date and time was advertised, people were saying, look, we want to know when this is because someone would need to be there".

"We have had neighbours from those two addresses that I mentioned, both in Lisburn and in Antrim, who are keen to offer any help they can," he said.

"We have a couple of offers to sing at the funeral, a couple of offers to provide flowers."

David said Margaret "may be the end of the line of a family" or or may have family who emigrated and were not aware she had died.

He added that Margaret may have originally come from Scotland.

A celebrant will lead her funeral service.

"She [the celebrant] intends to have a chat with some of the folks that have got in touch with us, just to sort of gain a wee bit of information about Margaret's hobbies and interests, and the type of person that she was," David said.

A government agency is covering the cost of the cremation and the funeral directors will absorb all other costs.