About Us
The business was started by Mr Joseph McMenamin in Rainey Street, Magherafelt, who was also a publican in the town who died in 1909. The business was passed on to his daughter Marian Gormley (Nee McMenamin) who married Patrick Gormley (Goles, Cranagh) who also ran a bar in the village of Desertmartin.
When Marian died in 1933 the funeral business and bar was passed onto her son Brian A who married Ella McKenna (Tirkane, Maghera) who also inherited the bar and funeral directors from her late brother Dan who passed away in 1944.
Their son Joseph A (Joe) ran the funeral business and bar in Maghera and
Desertmartin until his father Brian passed away in 1970.
Joseph A ran both businesses until his death in 2015. His son Michael J (Mickey) now manages the business at present with the help of his two sons Nicholas and Michael R.
In 1984 Mickey studied and completed the British Institute of Embalmers diploma, a diploma that both his sons Nicholas & Michael (Jr) received in 2017. In June of 2018 Nicholas travelled to St. Etienne, France and successfully completed a 5 day course on Facial Restoration & Reconstruction under the supervision of Philippe Dubresson and Alain Koninckx. J.A. Gormley Funeral Directors now have three fully qualified professional embalmers, all family members on hand to carry out duties in the day to day running of the business and taking the business into the 6th generation.
