The late Fergie Kehoe was laid to rest after Funeral Mass in Rowe Street Church last week. Pic: Jim Campbell
HUNDREDS OF mourners packed into Rowe Street Church for the funeral of the much-loved Fergie Kehoe on Tuesday last, during which the chief celebrant priest made an impassioned plea to those gathered to seek help if they were struggling.
Cllr. Kehoe tragically passed away on Saturday week last, sending a shockwave through the town he had grown up in, lived in, worked in, run a business in, and whose people he had represented as a town and county councillor.
He is survived by his wife Frances, his son Oisin, his father John, brothers Tom, Robbie, Sean and Eamon, and extended family and many friends.
The crowds which gathered in and outside the church showed the true extent of the popular councillor’s reach in the community with people travelling from far and near to pay their respects.
There was standing room only in the church from 12:40 p.m. onwards and mourners lined the aisles, including Fianna Fáil party leader Micheal Martin who, earlier in the week, had paid tribute to his party colleague, referring to him as “a great champion for the town.”
Fr. Denis Doyle, who presided over the funeral mass, spoke of the shock that had engulfed the town as the news of Cllr. Kehoe’s passing had broke: “I’m sure everyone of us here this morning or this afternoon would give anything to be somewhere else. We are only here because of the tragic death of Fergie. His death has left many people shocked, grieving and hugely saddened. When anyone of just 51 years of age leaves us in such tragic circumstances, it certainly leaves a lot of people shaken, and asking a lot of questions.”
Cllr. Kehoe, he said, was born to John and Eileen Kehoe. His mother had predeceased him but his father was present and he extended his sympathy to him, saying it was every parent’s dread and nightmare to bury a son or daughter.
He expressed further sympathies to Cllr. Kehoe’s four brothers, his wife Frances, his 15-year-old son Oisin, his mother-in-law Eileen and all extended family.
In his sermon, which drew a round of applause at its close, he acknowledged the outpouring of grief from the local community, saying: “Over the last few days, we have all heard and read of many, many tributes to Fergie and can I say, they have been fabulous so I suppose there is no need for me to say anymore on that score.”
However, his next words drew an audible murmur from the huge crowd gathered. He said: “But can I just ask one simple question today: all of those beautiful things that were said about Fergie, why has someone to be dead before those things are said?
“Wouldn’t it have been fabulous last week if Fergie had heard those tributes, those nice things that had been said about him? Do we not realise how much we grow when someone praises us? And how much we sink when someone criticises us?”
He pointed out that we were living in an age where people loved to criticise and bring others down, but everyone had some good to say and some praise to give to someone and he pleaded with those gathered not to wait until a person was dead to do so: “Say it to them today.”
