Fenit sympathises with round of applause for much-loved Denis
FUNERAL OF POPULAR FENIT MAN DENIS QUIRKE PROMPTS HUGE SHOW OF COMMUNITY SYMPATHY
ONE of sons of the late Denis Quirke have said that he and the rest of the family were “blown away” by the amount of people who lined the streets of the town to bid his father farewell on his final journey.
Denis Quirke was 70 years old when he passed away on April 7 and in these COVID-19 times, when our usual methods of sharing condolences with those who are grieving are disrupted, the Fenit community found a simple, yet beautiful way of paying their respects to a very much- liked figure in the community.
Speaking to The Kerryman on behalf of the Quirke family, Denis’ son Ger said that even in the midst of their sadness, seeing so many people clapping his dad on his last journey, it helped to bring a little joy to the day.
“For the enviornment that we are in today, that was an absolute astonishing send- off for my dad. He’d had been a very popular man in the community alright. Yopu could say that he was like the handyman around the place. He’d have been out cutting the grass for the village, he was trimming trees and bushes and keeping the place nice and tidy. He was that man. What you thought you needed, you could have called up to the father and he’d have it for you,” Ger continued with a laugh
“For the community to come out like they did, it was the best possible outcome that my father would have loved to have seen for himself,” he said.
In a sign of how popular Ger was, people lined the streets - all while practising social distancing - all the way from Fenit Church to the graveyard.
“All the dockers came up from the pier and lined them and they gave dad a brilliant a guard of honour and they even arranged for a the captain of the ship to blow the horn three times. The three times would usually signify that the shipi is leaving port so it was fitting that they did it for dad who was leaving on his own last journey,” said Ger.
Even though he turned 70 last August and was at an age when most people would be looking to put their feet up and enjoy a more relaxed way of life, Denis was different and up until December of last year, he was still working, climbing ladders and just being himself is how Ger described his fathers last few months.
“It was both a happy and sad day. It was just a very strange feeling, to know that they did all of this for dad. We were just blown away by it all,” said Ger.
A testament to Denis’ own fighting spirit, Ger tells use how his dad developed a brain tumour back in 1979.
“In 1981 when he had surgery, they could only remove about 80 per cent of the tumour and back in 1981, they only gave him something like six months to live and here we are in 2020, he lived for 39 years longer than they thought he would. That was dad though,” said Ger.