Talented member of The McElroy Sisters from Moneyglass who sang with stars like Anita Harris passes away

Mrs Horner, (nee McElroy), passed away peacefully at her home in Newtownabbey on January 21.

Born on August 14, 1947 in Marian Hill, Moneyglass, she was one of 11 children born to Bill and Aggie McElroy.

Music was a big part of family life with Bill playing the bagpipes and everyone enjoying playing music together within the home.

When concerts and choirs were started for local children, the young Susan and her sisters happily joined in and even from an early age, she, along with Maureen and Irene stood out as great singers.

In her early teens Mrs Horner took up piano lessons and continued to sing alongside Maureen and Irene. They formed their own act, The McElroy Sisters, and with the help of their mother, toured various clubs around Northern Ireland.

Aggie made their outfits by hand and drove them to and from the clubs and it was during this time that music agent Jeff Baker noticed the sisters performing and signed them up.

The local parish raised money for The McElroy Sisters so they could travel to tour the north west of England and they were very successful, supporting famous acts like Susan Maughan, Chris Barber, Anita Harris and The Barron Knights during the 1960s.

Mrs Horner returned home when she had the opportunity to begin her teaching career at St Mary’s, Maghera. She was a music teacher there for around five years and transferred to St Louise’s on the Falls Road, Belfast after she married her husband Brian. The couple met in the Deerpark Hotel at a dance in September 1973 and married less than a year later. This August would have been their 50th wedding anniversary.

After the birth of their first child, Sinead, in June 1975, Mrs Horner left full-time employment to concentrate on family life. She continued to teach piano privately, however, and returned to school tuition briefly on a part-time basis at St Aloysius. She taught piano privately for many years.

Fondly remembered as a warm, kind and gentle person, Mrs Horner was very proud of her roots and loved her family very much. They brought her so much joy and she was always full of encouragement towards her children and grandchildren.

Mrs Horner had a devout faith and played an active part in church life. She played as the church pianist and sang with the choir in St Colman’s Church, Greenisland for many years until her recent retirement.

Mrs Horner sadly suffered from cancer over the past year and whilst she remained positive in her mind and took every physical step that was asked of her, she unfortunately lost her battle with the disease.

Her family have described her as “an enormous bright colourful spark in the world that will be deeply deeply missed”.

Mrs Horner is survived by her husband Brian; children Sinead, John and Brian Jr; grandchildren Jake, Astrid, Isaac, Isla and Eve and siblings Una, Irene, Danny, Dessie and Donna.

She was pre-deceased by twin brothers Patrick and Adrian who died at six weeks of age, brother Liam who passed away in April 1988, sister Maureen in January 2011 and twin sister Margaret in April 2023.