A PLANE from Mayo Flying Club swooped low over Balla Cemetery yesterday as the remains of Donal McEllin, a former pilot, were brought to their last resting place.
Mr McEllin, who lived at Maryland, Castlebar, drowned along with his friend, Ger Feeney, at Inishbofin island early on Sunday last.
At the funeral Mass in the Church of the Holy Rosary, Castlebar, a daredevil pilot, a loveable prankster, an ardent boatman and a devoted uncle was recalled.
One of the retired businessman’s nephews, Tom Cunniffe, a Mayo senior footballer, described his late uncle as the “heartbeat” of his family circle.
Mr Cunniffe told mourners: “If it were not for Donal I would not be the person I am today.”
Among the congregation at the funeral Mass were Minister for Labour Affairs Dara Calleary, Beverley Flynn TD, and her father, former EU commissioner Padraig Flynn.
Relatives of Ger Feeney, the ESB employee and former GAA All-Star who also died in Sunday’s tragedy, attended the funeral. Mr Feeney had been laid to rest on Wednesday.
A classmate of Donal McEllin, Columban priest Fr Brendan Hoban, who was the main celebrant of the funeral Mass, said Mr McEllin was a man who “was always going somewhere”, a person who lived life to the full.
Fr Hoban said that there had been an innocence about his former classmate and a great love. He went on to recall how Mr McEllin had looked after his parents after coming home to Castlebar in 1990.
He had loved the sea, Croagh Patrick and the mountains of Connemara. At the conclusion of the Mass, Michael Gavin recalled his late friend’s flying exploits “doing loops and dives over Castlebar” in a small aircraft, and even taxiing up the town’s Main Street once in a plane from which the wings had been removed.
Before the remains were removed from the church on their last journey to Balla Cemetery, eight miles away, Mairtín O’Connor, formerly of De Danann, and Seamus O’Dowd played a medley of tunes which included the haunting Inchagoill.
Members of Castlebar Mitchels GAA Club, of which the late Mr McEllin was a member and staunch supporter, formed a guard of honour along with members of Ballintubber GAA Club as the remains were brought to their last resting place.