The funeral of renowned journalist and sports columnist Con Houlihan will take place tomorrow.
Houlihan (86), originally from Castleisland, Co Kerry, died at St James’s Hospital in Dublin at the weekend following a long illness.
His funeral Mass will take place in Saint Kevin’s Church, Harrington Street, South Circular Road, Dublin, at noon followed by cremation at Mount Jerome Crematorium at 2pm.
Tributes were paid yesterday to Houlihan, who enjoyed a career in journalism spanning more than six decades. He made his name in the Evening Press and was said to be heartbroken when the Irish Press Group closed in 1995.
In 2010, he was presented with an All-Ireland Inspirational Life award for his “unique and vocal insight into all aspects of Irish society”. The sports writer was remembered with a minute’s silence before the Kerry v Donegal All-Ireland quarter-final in Croke Park yesterday – a match that his native county went on to lose. President Michael D Higgins led tributes last week, praising him as “a most original writer, with a unique style based on his extensive knowledge of literature, politics, life and sport”.
He was a regular in the Palace Bar on Fleet Street, Dublin, and nearby Mulligan’s.
He wrote several sports books and his last column was published in the Evening Herald last Wednesday.