Funeral told that murdered Mark was the ‘greatest son’ to mum Anne
MURDERED Mark O’Sullivan’s best friend spoke of an ‘unbreakable bond’ between him and his mother Anne.
His funeral service in Kanturk yesterday heard how he was the ‘greatest son’ a mother could have.
It came a day after his father and brother were buried in a separate funeral – and graveyard – after they conspired to murder him while he lay in his bed on Monday.
Mark, 26, was discovered in the family home in Assolas between Kanturk and Castlemagner while Diarmuid, a 23-year-old student, was found dead alongside his father Tadg in a field 600 metres away.
Mourners at his funeral service at the Church of the Immaculate Conception yesterday heard from Mark’s friend Sharmila Rahman: ‘Mark was the greatest son a mother could have and I know the bond between them was unbreakable. Mark had such a big heart and so much love to give as a friend, I know that, but I can’t begin to imagine how much effort and love he put into being Anne’s son.’
She went on to say how she found it difficult to put into words how ‘amazing’ her friend Mark was.
The congregation heard: ‘I struggle to put into words... I struggle to put into words how strong our friendship was and just how amazing Mark was as a person. Saying he was amazing seems like an injustice to who he really was.
‘He was charming, funny, caring, kind, selfless, hard working, honest, intelligent, but also so much more. Words can’t describe Mark for who he was, there are no words to describe a person like him, but anyone who knew him knows that they were blessed to have him in their lives and how incredible he was. Mark you are my best friend forever, I love you.’
Sharmila told how she first met Mark when the two were studying law in college and how she was drawn to his ‘kindness and an ability to make you feel at home’. She said the two had a ‘great friendship’ and were more like ‘soulmates’. ‘I first met Mark while we studied law at the University of
Limerick, I remember putting my name down beside his to work on a moot case together in our first year, not knowing that would spark a great friendship between us.
‘From then on I was drawn to Mark, his kindness, sense of humour and ability to make you feel at home – and Mark was home when we were together.
‘A mutual friend of ours recently said that Mark and I were soulmates. I always referred to us as best friends, but that never seemed quite right. Yes we were best friends, but our connection always felt like it was so much more. Like we were meant to be in one another’s lives. How could two very different people get on so well. Mark sensible, I loud and spontaneous.
‘I guess we were soulmates, I just didn’t have a word for it until now.’
Sharmila told of how she and Mark lived together both in Ireland and in Greece and how mark earned the nickname Mother Mark because of his kindness to others.
‘Mark has taught me so much and has shown me what a true friendship is, I will always remember our times spent living together both in Ireland and in Greece, hearing each other laugh through the walls because one of us has sent something via text, waking up every morning to go sit at the end of his bed for a chat before we walked to college together.
‘Mark was the most caring, selfless person I have ever met, so caring and selfless he earned the nickname Mother Mark.
‘He could make you feel loved and wanted from the smallest gestures and would come into the room for a chat and his immediate reaction was to reach into his drawer and throw a chocolate bar at me.
‘He would come to our college house every Sunday and bring us food as we’d sit and chat and laugh the rest of the night away, catching up on each other’s news as if we hadn’t just seen each other two days prior. We always missed each other’s company no matter how long we had been apart. He has been there for me when I was at my highs and lows, never making me feel like I was anything less than special to him and he was incredibly special to me.’
‘Mark had so much love to give as a friend’
Sharmila revealed her friendship with Mark continued long after they finished college. ‘As we finished college we naturally went on to do different things in life, I moved abroad but we still stayed in touch every single day. For three years after college this never stopped. He embraced my now husband as an extension of myself making sure that he was also cared for. That’s who Mark was, his care for others was always his priority.’
Parish priest Fr Toby Bluitt said yesterday Mark ‘touched many people’s lives along the way as he journeyed through life’.
‘His life and death have changed you all and you will never be the same again,’ he added
‘Grief is never an easy burden to bear – and never more so when it comes to us in what can only be described as an untimely, shocking and tragic way. We gather in such grief today, carrying a burden that not only seems to be, but in fact is overwhelming. We gather to comfort and support each other in our common loss.’
Fr Bluitt added: ‘We gather to make sense of the senseless.’
‘His care of others was always his priority’