‘UCD was his home’ - Warm tributes paid to ‘Old Man Belfield’ Michael Byrne

Michael Byrne, the homeless man affectionately known as "Old Man Belfield", did not believe he was homeless because "UCD was his home," his funeral Mass was told.

The 71-year-old, who spent more than 40 years roaming the south Dublin campus and died while sleeping rough there on January 11th, was remembered by UCD chaplain Fr Eamonn Bourke at as “an important member of our community”.

At the funeral in Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Church at Belfield, the priest said Mr Byrne had been described as “Old Man Belfield and the silent guardian of Belfield”.

“However, today, we give him the dignity of calling him Michael,” said Fr Bourke.

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The priest said Mr Byrne died last week “possibly and probably on his own birthday”.

“Michael touched the hearts of so many people down through the years here in UCD and in the surrounding neighbourhoods,” he said. “He was a consistent and important member of our community and will be sadly missed by so many.”

A small group of mourners at the UCD church, limited due to the Covid-19 restrictions, heard how the local community in and around Belfield looked after Mr Byrne over the years - gifting him food, clothes and cigarettes “but, most importantly, love and concern,” said Fr Bourke.

Public response

Mr Byrne’s death led to a huge public response from UCD academics, staff, students and graduates who fondly recalled a man who was a permanent fixture on campus but never spoke.

“The most important love and care that Michael received was the simplicity of a kindly glance, a simple hello, a warm smile of those who passed him on their way,” said Fr Bourke.

He described the homeless man who had no known family as “quiet and unassuming” who walked around the campus so peacefully that he went around “quite unnoticed”.

The priest said that those who saw My Byrne “might wonder how God was watching over him, given the poor state of his appearance” and his apparent homelessness.

“However, I really feel that Michael didn’t believe that he was homeless. UCD was his home. This is where he lived. This is where he chose to live,” he added.

“And there has been much talk in recent days about Michael having no immediate family, no next of kin. as it were. Again, I don’t believe that this is true either. Michael was and is our brother. We are his family. This was his home.”

The priest said that Mr Byrne rarely spoke to anyone, never lived an exorbitant lifestyle or - as far as it is known - made anything with his hands. However, he taught “something most profound” about the dignity of the human person by being “his quiet, unassuming self.”

He delivered no eloquent lectures or debated anyone, or never wrote an in-depth thesis, but his life reminded people that the most important vocation is “to be ourselves, to be fully human”.

Living lesson

“On this university campus, Michael’s life was a living lesson on the dignity of the human person and on the deep mystery between us that there is a unique bond and that binds us together as brothers and sisters,” he said.

In his silence, Mr Byrne was “an excellent communicator, an excellent communicator of peace and tranquility, of dignity and personhood”.

At the funeral, UCD graduate Declan Wildes sang The Parting Glass and Amazing Grace, and student Helen Vysotska delivered readings and the reflection about how “clowns that caper in sawdust rings” and “ordinary folks, like you and me” are the “builders of eternity”.

In his homily, Steve McCarthy, who along with his parents cared for Mr Byrne after he “crossed our paths 30 to 40 years ago”, said that his mother once described him as “the dreamer”.

“She assumed that all he did all day was dream,” he said.

His voice cracked with emotion as he told mourners that Mr Byrne appeared “quite comfortable” when he identified his body at the request of the Garda Siochána last week.

He recalled a man who “had few vices”, a man who never drank alcohol but he had “one big vice and that was the John Player cigarettes of which consumed a lot,” he said.

“God knows only what he did for the day. We often wondered what he would get up to and more important, what he would be thinking about during the day,” he said.

Credit due

He praised local shops and the staff at UCD who would “look out for Michael” and feed him with rolls, sandwiches, cups of tea and lunches every day.

“It is a credit to the current management and staff and those of previous years that Michael’s health remained in top nick,” he said.

He said that, despite having no known family or genuine next of kin, Mr Byrne was “a family man and hopefully somebody out there might come forward.”

Mr McCarthy described the outpouring of grief and sadness in response to Mr Byrne’s death as “very overwhelming” and that it was “a testament to the mark that Michael left on people”.

“UCD has lost a friend who will be sadly missed by hundreds of people,” he said. “Maybe those out walking their dogs or jogging through the lovely wilderness of UCD has to offer will reflect on the man affectionally known as Old Man Belfield.”