‘Michael is back in the arms of our mother’
Grieving family says goodbye to man killed during Storm Ophelia
THE man who was killed while clearing a road during Monday’s devastating storms was yesterday remembered as a good man, a loving son, brother, grandson, and partner, and a gentle soul at his funeral Mass.
Popular electrician Michael Pyke was buried in the south Tipperary village of Ardfinnan after a funeral Mass attended by hundreds of mourners who gathered in heavy rain at the Church of the Holy Family to say goodbye and show their support to his father Tony, brothers and sisters and beloved partner Nollaig Hennessy.
The service heard that the 31year-old electrician, who was almost finished his apprenticeship having previously worked as a qualified blocklayer, had been the ‘white-haired boy’ in the eyes of his mother, Moira who died 11 years ago. Michael Pyke suffered fatal head injuries when he was struck by a branch from an overhanging tree while clearing a fallen bough from the road between his native Ardfinnan and Cahir before lunchtime on Monday.
Parish priest of nearby Clogheen, Fr Bobby Power, who was based in Ardfinnan until recently, described it as ‘a sad day’ and said Michael’s sudden death was a shocking event which had devastated his family and friends.
Prayers were said at the Mass for Clare O’Neill and Fintan Goss, both of whom died in separate storm-related tragedies that occurred as Storm Ophelia raged across the country on Monday.
Before the end of the Mass, Michael’s niece Sophie and sister Linda paid their own personal tributes to the much-loved 31-year-old, on behalf of the family. ‘Michael, what can I say? We are heartbroken,’ Linda said through tears. ‘You were the best son, brother, uncle, friend and boyfriend to Nollaig.’
She said the entire family were taking comfort in the fact that Michael, the youngest of the family, was ‘back in the arms of our mother’.
‘Michael you will always be in our hearts and you will never, ever be forgotten,’ she said.
‘Sleep well, Michael, until we meet again some day.’
As she ended her eulogy, warm applause rang around the church.
Niece Sophie thanked Michael for being a great uncle and ‘such an incredible person’. She also thanked him for playing football with her in her younger days, and for helping her own father and his brother with keeping his car safely on the road. Sophie said goodbye on behalf of all the nieces and nephews – ‘and there are a lot of us’.
She also thanked him for introducing the family to his partner Nollaig, and her music.
Among those also at the funeral were some of Michael’s friends from Limerick IT, where he was training on his apprenticeship, while also working in Dublin, and the college president Professor Vincent Cunnane.
After the Mass, Michael’s father Tony, his brothers David, Philip and Anthony, and sisters Tina, Sharon, Claire, Lisa, Linda, Sarah, and Valerie walked with the coffin as it made its way to St Finnian’s Cemetery.
In a tribute on Facebook on Wednesday night, Nollaig referred to Michael as her ‘adventure buddy’ because of all the activities they undertook together. ‘What memories we have,’ she wrote. ‘Unfortunately, we are now on different paths, but I know you are never far away. Love you always.’
Yesterday, she held a photograph of herself and Michael, and gave a small wave as his coffin was placed into the hearse, and Michael’s motorcycling friends led the cortege across the bridge over the River Suir, on this final journey.
‘You will always be in our hearts’
‘I know you are never far away’