A father of seven, who was fatally assaulted while attending the burial of a friend in Co Kerry just over a week ago, has been remembered with fondness and affection by family and friends at his funeral Mass in Co Offaly.
Tom Dooley (43), from Hazelwood Drive in Killarney, died after he and his wife Siobhán were attacked by a group of men at New Rath Cemetery in Tralee on October 5th.
Ms Dooley and the couple’s children brought Mr Dooley’s remains to the Church of the Assumption in her hometown of Tullamore, Co Offaly, where celebrant Fr Joe Gallagher extended his sympathies to the family on their sad and sudden loss.
He described Mr Dooley as a loving husband to Siobhán and father to their three sons and four daughters, who range in age from 22 to eight. He also remembered the 10 people killed in last week’s explosion in Creeslough, Co Donegal.
“This morning as we gather to celebrate the Mass for Tom on this sad occasion, we are very much conscious of Tom’s grieving family and we hold them in our thoughts – we remember Tom’s wife, Siobhán and his children, Nora, Rosaleen, Siobhán, Thomas, Charles, John and Angel.”
Gardaí mounted a significant security operation to ensure there was no repeat of the violent events seen at the graveyard in Tralee eight days earlier, but the funeral passed off without incident. A Garda helicopter circled in the distance overhead and members of the force’s horse, public order and armed support units were present on the ground.
Ahead of the Mass, gardaí with sniffer dogs searched the Church of the Assumption with officers lifting the kneelers to ensure there was nothing hidden under pews. Uniformed officers on foot and bicycles and marked cars maintained a highly visible presence on the streets.
Mr Dooley’s two-tone American style steel dome lid casket, draped in a green and gold Kerry flag, was shouldered into the church by 10 men as mourners filed in behind the cortege to the strains of tenor Joe Wynne singing ‘Be Not Afraid’.
There were two specially made blue fabric pull-up signs bearing pictures of a smiling Mr Dooley over two verses saying that while mourners may feel lonely and hurt in the wake of his death, their separation will only be temporary.
In front of the altar, the family had placed three huge blue and white heart shaped wreaths. One featuring a large photograph of Tom and Siobhán Dooley read ‘I will always love you’ and another with a photo of the entire family stated ‘We will always love you’.
Mr Dooley’s remains were shouldered from the church to a waiting horse drawn hearse, which was followed by two young sons holding a large banner with two photos of Mr Dooley and the caption ‘RIP – The World’s Greatest – Tom Dooley’.
The two white Irish draught horses with feather plumes on their heads trotted under the guidance of two drivers in bowler hats as the cortege made the 1km journey from the church through the centre of Tullamore to Clonminch Cemetery.
More mourners were waiting at the tree-lined cemetery to sympathise with the Dooley family as the coffin was shouldered to the grave while Tina Turner’s ‘Simply the Best’ played.
The formal religious ceremony concluded when Fr Gallagher led the mourners in prayer but the family and around 50 friends stayed on as local man Derek McDonagh sang some laments before somebody played one of Mr Dooley’s favourite songs, ‘The Gambler’ by Kenny Rogers.
