Sinéad Duffy

Clever and tenacious, Sinéad graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in business administration and law and a diploma in legal studies from Griffith College in Dublin. In addition to the Silver Granite pub in Palmerstown, Dublin, she worked for companies including Samsung, Microsoft and GSK in various training and change management roles before starting work in the London office of the global consulting firm Control Risks in 2007. In 2010 she moved to Los Angeles to work in Control Risks’ office there, and then to Houston in 2015. Through her work, Sinéad traveled the world and served as a mentor, teacher, confidant, problem-solver and true friend to hundreds of her colleagues.

2021 began with an enormous amount of promise for Sinéad. She started a new role as a Senior Manager on the Applications team at BDO Digital, and was so excited about her work and her new team; likewise, they seemed thrilled to have her on board, and her potential seemed limitless. She was also proud of her Kingwood home, which she had purchased in late 2019 and fully intended to live in for decades, serving visitors at the built-in bar and feeding the squirrels. Her dreams were to fix up the garage, take road trips across the US, eventually retire from consulting, and open an Irish bar in Houston called Texish. In April, Sinéad started to feel some unusual pains in her abdomen, and by May 11 she had received a diagnosis of Stage IV pancreatic cancer. She passed away on July 10 at her home.

Sinéad’s likes included the Chelsea Football Club, Irish Rugby, whiskey, pie, business systems and processes, The Cheesecake Factory, Bing Crosby, foaming hand soaps, South Dakota, the TV shows Supernatural and The Boys, the expression “bless your cotton socks,” Cadbury’s chocolate, World of Warcraft, Jillian Michaels workout videos, and cats. Her dislikes included avocados, swimming, pretention, and fools.

Sinéad was preceded in death by her beloved father, Matthew Duffy, whom she missed every day. She is survived by her family in Ireland: her mother Nancy Duffy and two brothers, David and William, all of Claddaghduff, and her sister Siobhan Byrne, of Trim, who came to Houston to care for her during the final month of her life. She is also survived by her three nephews, all of whom she adored: Liam Duffy of Hamilton, Ontario, Paul Duffy of Claddaghduff, and Matt Byrne of Trim.

She is also survived by hundreds of friends from all over the world, dozens of former colleagues who considered her their greatest mentor, her best friends Cocheiska Pearce and Christine Sowder, and her cat Crowley Duffy, who sat next to her in her bed for the last month, leaving only briefly a couple times a day to visit the litter box and food bowl before trotting back to her bedroom like he was late for work.

Her cherished cat Devlin Cillian Duffy, whom she rescued from a feral cat colony in Christine’s backyard in Hollywood in September of 2011 and had loved beyond all reason ever since, was put to sleep several days after Sinéad’s death. He had late-stage kidney disease and the vet had recommended putting him down about a month earlier, but Devlin wanted to hang on to serve as a comfort and joy to Sinéad and her caregivers during the most difficult time of their lives. Siobhan will take both Sinéad’s ashes and Devlin’s ashes home with her to Ireland, as it should be.

Sinéad will be laid to rest beside her beloved father on Omey Island near Claddaghduff on August 2.