Family bids farewell to a loving father and pioneer within the health service

AS MAURICE Neligan’s three sons stood at the pulpit to pay emotional tributes to their father, the distinguished heart surgeon who died last Friday at 73, they each presented a facet of a rounded, loving, well-read, passionate man, fulfilled in his marriage, his family, his profession and his hobbies.

An overflowing congregation at the Church of the Assumption, in Booterstown Avenue, south Dublin, where he was baptised in 1937, heard about the "unapologetically biased 'Rock boy", who proudly flaunted his 'Rock tie for his first appearance on the Late Late Show; one "who scarred a few referees for life," as he rampaged through the playing fields, a man who loved to have fun and – in son David's words – gave his children the same licence at college. Another son John, for whom rugby was never a strong point unlike his two brothers, recalled how his father still showed the same spirited support, however lowly the conditions or the opposition.

“It could be the cabbage patch at the top of Blackrock, on a mucky day; it could be the Conleth’s thirds and the Blackrock fifths; hardly a glory fixture, but it would mean something to me. And somehow Marian or Jenny, his two great friends, would arrange that Dad would slip out and I’d be rolling out of a ruck or something and you’d hear him from the sideline – ‘Ref! Open your eyes!’ . . .”

Two weeks ago, said John, he got proof that his father was a “believer”. “I was just leaving Lansdowne Road where Leinster had beaten Munster – I think for the fifth time in a row, and my phone beeped and it was a message from Dad – ‘there is a God’.” The congregation – most of them anyway – erupted in laughter.

“From my personal point of view, my parents were the reason I studied medicine and became a surgeon later on,” said Maurice, the eldest son. “I saw how fulfilled they were in their professional lives, from which this happy, boisterous, much-loved family flowed . . .”

He recalled his father’s achievement in developing “a world-class cardiac surgical service in this country for adults and children . . . and latterly his focus on being an advocate for people who he thought didn’t have a voice.”

Dr Neligan, who was also an Irish Timescolumnist, "held a lofty position in the public eye through a lifetime of hard work. Personally I would like to thank all in The Irish Timesthat saw this great opportunity to give to a man who had a really unique insight into how Irish healthcare was delivered," said John.

Their father’s strength in coping with the tragic loss of Sara, one of Maurice and Pat Neligan’s three daughters, was recalled by John.

“Sara’s passing hit my father incredibly hard. He brought us together and he held us up . . . And one person above all held him up, every day. Every morning they would talk, every evening when he would come in, knackered, and he would sit down, himself and Mum would put the world to rights and Mum always just looked after him as he looked after her and” – his voice faded and trembled – “I feel so lonely . . .”

He finished by paraphrasing a quote from an Irish Timescolumn his father had written about Sara: " 'I unreservedly believe we will meet again in the sunlit uplands.' And we will."

Earlier, in his homily, Mgr Séamus Conway noted that “many hearts are beating today thanks to Maurice Neligan’s skill”, but he added, it was the observation of Dr Muiris Houston that had touched him most. “He said Maurice Neligan was unique in that when he operated on a patient, they invariably came back to tell you how they felt they had got to know him personally. They also sensed an underlying kindness and a palpable concern for their wellbeing . . . Let us give thanks for the lives saved, the lives prolonged, and the lives enhanced. The people Maurice helped are all known to God and his mysterious providence and they are linked forever . . .”

As the coffin was borne from the church and the organist rendered a few soft bars of Blaze Awaybefore the more traditional, Going Home, the mourners were led by Mr Neligan's wife Patricia, his three sons Maurice, John and David, three daughters, Kate, Lisa and Lucy, his sister Margo and his six grandchildren.

Kerry was represented in style by dozens of green-blazered members of Dooks golf club – of which Maurice was president in 2001 – as was Portmarnock golf club, Blackrock College, along with many hospitals and universities.

The attendance books contained the signatures of many who described themselves as “old patients” or mentioned a loved one who had been.

Also among the attendance were the Taoiseach's representative, Commandant Michael Treacy, and politicians Enda Kenny, Bernard Durkan, Jimmy Deenihan and Eugene Regan. Among the many representatives from the medical world were Mr Freddie Wood (with whom Maurice Neligan set up the heart transplant programme), Prof Eilis McGovern, president of the RCSI, Prof Seán Blake, Mr James Murphy, Prof John Kelly, Dr Ronnie Wilson, Dr George Duffy, Mr Michael Butler, Prof Barry O'Donnell, Dr Paddy O'Kelly, Dr Gary O'Toole, Dr John Barragry, Ms Ita Greene – a former theatre superintendent in the Mater – Ms Marian Smyth, who worked for Mr Neligan for 24 years, Liam Doran of the INO and Finbarr Fitzpatrick of the IHCA. The Irish Timeswas represented by managing editor, Eoin McVey.