TONY IS FINALLY LAID TO REST
33-year-old’s generous, kind nature is recalled
‘TODAY WE give thanks that Tony was found, not as we would have wished him to be found, but at least he is back home with his family and with the people who cared most for him.’
These words resonated with the hundreds in attendance at the funeral Mass of Tony Egan, pictured, which took place in Clongeen on Monday and was celebrated by Fr Colm Murphy.
Fr Murphy said: ‘Tony’s family members hold his memory dear. They knew him to be a kind, generous and good natured man.’
Tony (33), late of Ballygarvan, Gusserane, went missing in late September from his home in Portarlington, Co. Laois. His body was discovered by walkers at woodland near Monasterevin last Monday.
Gardaí are not treating his death as suspicious.
A BLINDINGLY bright, low winter sun shone on hundreds of mourners who gathered at St Aidan’s Church in Clongeen on Monday morning for the funeral Mass of 33-year-old local man Tony Egan whose remains were found last week three months after he went missing.
The sunny weather was at odds with the sombre proceedings inside the church where family members, friends and neighbours gathered to pay their final respects to the popular Gusserane man.
Tony (33), who is late of Ballygarvan and Portalington, County Laois, went missing the night before he was due to return to his family in Gusserane, in late September from his home in Portarligton, where he was living with a friend and had resided for the past two years.
Extensive searches took place in Portlaoise for Tony, but yieled nothing. His body was finally discovered by walkers at woodland near Monasterevin last Monday, and Gardaí are not treating his death as suspicious.
At the packed Mass, Clongeen PP Fr Colm Murphy extended his and the community’s deepest sympathies to Tony’s parents, Bridget and Nicholas; brother David; sisters Mandy, Roseanne and Elaine; grandmother Molly; friend Pat and extended family.
Fr Murphy told the mourners: ‘The loss of a family member is always keenly felt but the loss of a family member in tragic circumstances is even more keenly felt.’
Gifts representing Tony’s life were brought by family members to his coffin, including a book, a pack of cigarettes, a paintbrush, a packet of cards and his favourite teddy bear from childhood.
A stunned silence pervaded the church throughout.
Fr Murphy said: ‘ Let us remember Tony not for the manner of his passing but for the life that he lived. Tony’s family members hold his memory dear. They knew him to be a kind, generous and good natured man.’
He recalled how Tony was baptised and had his Confirmation in St Aidan’s Church before going on to work in a variety of jobs including for the BBC in England, as a town councillor in Athy, as a contributor on politics in a newspaper and in charity shops.
‘Tony had his own struggles and difficulties like us all. Not one of us doesn’t if the truth were known and but for the grace of God go we. Today we remember the good that Tony did and the happiness he brought to all those who knew him and loved him.’
Murphy said people in the community were trying to comfort one another in the wake of the tragedy.
‘We are trying to comfort one another and find light in the darkness. What could be darker than the circumstances of Tony’s death. Tony is at home now; he is home with his parents and with his family.’
Describing the three month period in which Tony was missing as a ‘very, very long time’ for the Egan family, Fr Murphy said: ‘Today we give thanks that Tony was found, not as would have wished him to be found but at least he is back home with his family and with the people who cared most for him. There is great grief and sadness for people as young as Tony are not supposed to die ahead of their elders as it almost goes againts nature, but such is the mystery of life.’
After the Mass Tony’s funeral cortege made its way the short distance to Clongeen Cemetery where he was laid to rest.