DEREK MCDONAGH was “deprived of joy” when his life was taken just two weeks before his son’s first birthday, Fr Patrick Donnelly told mourners in Tullamore, Co Offaly yesterday.
Several hundred people gathered at the Church of the Assumption to pay their respects to Mr McDonagh.
The 27-year-old died from stab wounds inflicted during an altercation in Tullamore on Monday morning.
Following the funeral mass, Mr McDonagh’s coffin was taken to a waiting horse-drawn carriage. Two black horses led the cortege through the streets of Tullamore to Clonminch Cemetery where he was buried.
In the church, a cap, a bunch of white flowers and a picture of Mr McDonagh were placed on top of his coffin.
At its base, bouquets of flowers spelled the words Derek, Father and Husband.
Fr Donnelly began the funeral mass by sympathising with Mr McDonagh’s widow Kathleen and his son Derek, who is due to celebrate his first birthday on October 4th.
The priest also said: “Something awful indeed was done to Derek and perhaps those closest to him may never be able to forgive what happened to him. But maybe to honour his memory we should follow the way he tried to live his life. He tried to follow the path of peace, to treasure his family.”
“As followers of Jesus, there is no room for revenge but each of us has a story to tell and I think to truly honour someone, to truly honour Derek, we must remember his life’s story. We must recall the good times, the funny times, the life-giving times and pass these stories on to his son.”
Mr McDonagh’s widow Kathleen sat between his parents. She stayed with them until the end of Mass when she walked over and kissed the coffin before removing a picture of her husband. A message penned by Ms McDonagh was read out during the Mass. In it she described her devastation at his loss and she asks him to “sleep tightly until we meet again”.