The late Gerard Kennedy - An Appreciation

“Gerard was a tonic for people who take life too seriously.”

So said, Fr Tony Ryan, P.P., at the funeral Mass of Gerard Kennedy on December 21 in The Sacred Heart Church, Upperchurch.

Gerard who was 39, was his father Jim’s shadow, his mother Eileen’s treasure. Adored by his six siblings - Jim, Margo, Catriona, Aileen, Thomas and Michael - and his nieces and nephews, Gerard Kennedy was the cherished centrepiece of his family’s life.

Born on February 11, 1982, the sixth of seven children, Gerard began his life in Upperchurch, before the Kennedys moved to Clonmore, Holycross and then Thurles.

Growing up above Jim Kennedy’s Pub on Parnell Street, his family’s steadfast love and devotion - combined with the pub’s atmosphere of fun, friendship and song - saw Gerard’s confidence and personality flourish.

Always friendly to the people he met, very quickly Gerard seemed to know everybody for miles around - and everybody knew Gerard. As his brother Thomas said in his moving eulogy: “His cheeky nature meant that everyone here has their own special memory of Gerard.”

Aged two, Gerard began his school life in the Guardian Angel preschool in Thurles, under the care and guidance of Margot Olden. From there he attended Scoil Aonghusa in Cashel, whose principal Tom Galvin described him as “adorable and a rascal”, adding that his thirteen years in the school are remembered for the “joy” he brought. Gerard also brought mischief.

One Christmas, peeved at being overlooked for the role of Joseph in the school’s nativity play and cast instead as an innkeeper, he strayed off-script. Mary and the donkey, he said, could come in, but Joseph would have to find another place to stay.

After Scoil Aonghusa, Gerard attended the Nagle Centre, where he enjoyed performing in their shows in Brú Ború, Cashel. He loved his job in Thurles Cash & Carry and was proud of his two Special Olympic medals for representing Munster in soccer and swimming.

Gerard was great fun, the first up on the dance floor and the last to leave the sing-song. A terrific dancer, he was never shy about asking a woman up, though he might abandon her mid-twirl if a better prospect caught his eye. He was romantic, proposing to no fewer than twenty women, all of whom accepted. His poor sister Aileen was broke buying rings in Boyle’s on Liberty Square.

She and Gerard enjoyed an especially close bond and Aileen brought him on many nights out with her friends, including to a nightclub in Dublin where he successfully infiltrated a hen party from Liverpool.
But his mother Eileen remained his number one and every day Gerard, who enjoyed his grub, said, “Thank you Mammy for my dinner”.

Gerard had a deep love of music and showmanship and attended many Irish country gigs. This affection was reciprocated when, on a magical afternoon last October, singer Derek Ryan came all the way from Fermanagh to the Kennedy family home in Fana, Drombane, to sing for over two hours with Gerard and the extended family. Gerard sang a number of songs, including his party piece, Red is the Rose, now a family anthem.
In the last months of his life as he battled a short illness, messages flooded in for Gerard from other country stars such as Daniel O’Donnell, Nathan Carter, Mike Denver and Louise Morrissey. There were messages, too, from luminaries of sport. Gerard controversially supported Tipperary’s arch rivals Kilkenny and was delighted when Richie Hogan agreed to be Best Man at his wedding.

But Gerard’s best man of all was his father Jim. “Will we get out tonight, Daddy?” Gerard would ask him, and the pair might head for a pint together to Coffey’s of Stouke. Indeed Coffey’s was such a favourite haunt of Gerard’s that he once fooled a new bus driver into thinking it was his stop on the way home from school. It was also the scene of an extraordinary party last October 30th to celebrate, three months early, Gerard’s upcoming 40th birthday. Not only did he make a grand entrance, punching his arms in the air to the delight of guests that included his beloved carer Paddy Cullen, but Gerard was the very last to leave many hours and songs later.

After he passed away on December 19th, his sister Margo said that Gerard gave the family “a unique bond”. He also touched the lives of so many in the wider community. The Kennedys have precious, uplifting memories to last a lifetime but are heartbroken to say goodbye to the shining light of their lives and the axis on which their family revolved.

Heaven is surely a livelier place with sweet mischief-maker Gerard Kennedy in attendance. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h'anam dílis.

Gerard’s Month’s Mind Mass takes place at St Mary’s Church, Drombane, on Saturday, February 12 at 5pm.