A wonderful husband and father

There was great sadness and disbelief when news filtered throughout the community of Ardfert and beyond of the death of Donal O'Riordan on the 19th April. Born on the 12th June 1952 to parents Christopher and Mary O'Riordan of Ballinprior Ardfert, Donal was the youngest of two children and attended Banna national school.

Donal met the lady who would become the love of his life, Elizabeth Daly from The Spa in 1978, and they were married on October 1st 1981. They shared almost thirty-two happy years of marriage and Donal was a wonderfully loyal and devoted husband.

Donal and Elizabeth had three children, Melissa, Danielle and Darren, who became the centre of their world. Donal was a fantastic father and there was nothing he would not do to protect and care for his family. He ensured that his children were left with nothing but happy memories of a carefree childhood and a loving and supportive father who took great pride and joy in all their achievements.

Donal was a remarkably strong person and was not afraid to take on any challenge. He had a deep and unwavering faith in God which was tested upon the death of his father Christopher in 1980, when Donal was just twenty-eight.

Donal led his family through the darkness and despair of this grief by showing extraordinary courage and faith in dealing with life's most devastating blow. He took up the helm of running the farm and embraced his love of farm life right up until his death.

Donal was never happier than when he was milking the cows, out in the fields bailing or ripping apart a tractor and putting it back together. He loved the challenge that life on the farm brought and he never once complained about the hard work. The words slow down were not in his vocabulary.

He was a gifted individual with his hands and he relished the challenge of solving a problem. He was so precise, and neat and tidy in everything that he did in life - perfection was his middle name. For over ten years Donal was also a silage contractor in the local area with his son Darren.

Donal wore both the Banna and Ardfert hurling jersies with pride. He won an U-21 County Championship with Ardfert, he played on the Banna Intermediate team that won the County Championship in 1971, and he played comer back on the Ardfert Senior Hurling team that won the County Championship in 1975. One of Donal's favourite things to do was to take the two family dogs for their weekly trip to the beach.

No matter what the weather was like Donal would walk to Ardkeragh with the dogs every Sunday. Irish music, song and dance were also very prominent in Donal's life. He was a member of the local Comhaltas Branch all his life and he loved playing the accordion and the guitar. When his children were young he spent endless nights with them learning their tunes, and he loved nothing more than sitting down playing or listening to a session.

He loved telling jokes or yearns as he'd call them. His wit, good humour and sayings were always one of his most prominent characteristics. It was indeed a fitting reflection of Donal's life that he was out socialising with neighbours and friends and entertaining the crowd singing a song when his tragic death occurred.

Donal's loss will be felt most deeply by his devoted wife Elizabeth, loving children Melissa, Danielle and Darren, his sister Eileen, brothers and sisters-in-law, cousins, nieces and nephews, along with countless friends and family whom were blessed to know him.

Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.

Courtesy of The Kerry's Eye Tweet

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