‘A zest for life ended by cruel mischance’
A YOUNG man who lost his life in a Christmas Day drowning had a ‘zest for living’ that was ended by ‘cruel mischance’, his funeral heard yesterday.
Declan Davitt, 26, from Curradavitt, Louisburgh, Co. Mayo, was laid to rest after his funeral Mass at the Church of the Holy Family in the coastal village of Killeen, Co. Mayo.
His best friend Martin Needham, 27, had been laid to rest in the adjoining cemetery on Thursday. The pair died when their 4x4 vehicle was swept away as they drove across the normally shallow Carrowniskey River in the early hours of Christmas Day. Another local man, 19-year-old Tom McGrail, managed to escape from the jeep.
The funeral cortege, like that of Mr Needham the previous day, was led by four tractors from the family home to the packed church where hundreds braved the elements outside.
Parish priest Fr Martin Long said that the community was mourning for both families and that it was particularly difficult for the Davitt family as Declan’s sister had died seven years ago.
He said: ‘Declan’s young life, with so much potential and energy and zest for living, was ended too soon by a cruel, random mischance.’
The young farmer had spent four years living and working in New Zealand as an agricultural contractor, but had decided to return home to be with his family. He was active in many organisations and in the community, including the Macra na Feirme tractor run to raise money for charity, while Fr Long noted that he regularly helped his father Walter to erect the crib each Christmas in the church where his funeral Mass took place.
Fr Long said that not only had mourners travelled from all over Ireland, some had come from Scotland, and some friends had even travelled from New Zealand, to attend the funeral and pay their respects to Declan who is survived by his parents, two sisters and a brother. Fr Long said those who travelled had ‘come to acknowledge a man who was a loyal friend’.
He added that Declan kept in close contact with his family when he was in New Zealand and that some of the calls involved receiving cooking lessons from his mother Mary-B.
The priest recalled: ‘When he returned to live in Ireland, he gave Walter and Mary-B a huge surprise by just walking in unannounced. He knew what it would mean to them and he wanted that occasion to be as special as it could. And it was.’
Fr Long said that even in the midst of their grief, the family had asked him to again thank the emergency services who responded on Christmas Day.
‘So much potential and energy’ ‘He wanted it to be special’