A Co Kilkenny man who died in a drowning accident while free-diving in Norway “has entered the history book of a select few whose lives were so remarkable,” mourners at his funeral heard.
Daniel “Danny” O’Brien (33), an aviation engineer who was originally from Graiguenamanagh, had been living in Bergen, Norway for just under a year. The fatal accident occurred on August 10th following a number of previous free-dives.
Hundreds of mourners began gathering for the funeral about an hour prior to the ceremony in Duiske Abbey in the centre of Graiguenamanagh. Mourners wore bright colours to the funeral as his family had requested as they paid their final respects.
Mr O’Brien is survived by his parents, Pauline Logan and Fiachra “Feekie” O’Brien, brothers Tommy and Ciaran, partner Ingvill, grandmother Brigid, Pauline’s partner Michael, Fiachra’s partner Esther, sister-in-law Amy, aunts, uncles, cousins and a wide circle of friends and relations.
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His wicker coffin was carried into the abbey by his father and brothers, along with other relatives and close friends.
Fr Mark Townsend led the funeral mass attended by mourners from all over Ireland, Norway, Australia and the US.
Representatives from the Air Corps Number 4 Support Wing of which Mr O’Brien was a former member were also in attendance.
Symbols of Mr O’Brien’s life were also brought to the altar including, his passport which represented his sense of adventure and his love of travel, his throw rope showing how important safety was to him, a duck which detailed his love of all things water and a dog leash belong to his pet Susie.
Fr Townsend said the loss of “somebody so young and so talented” was an enormous blow.
“We’ve no answers. It’s a loss that’s shared by family and friends also by so many others around the world, from work and from sport, neighbours and friends and parishioners,” the parish priest said.
“Danny didn’t do things for show. He did things because he could do them. It wasn’t for show. He wasn’t that type of person and he had many huge achievements. We salute them all here this morning.
“Every parish has its own history book. It’s not written down usually, but the history book of parishes are the lives of ordinary people who do extraordinary things.
“Today Danny enters that history book of a select few whose lives were so remarkable and will go down in history here, in this special place and in this parish. So we call on God’s help today here in this holy place where Danny was baptised, received his First Holy Communion and Confirmation. He was here at his grandad’s funeral only a few months ago with us.”
Following the ceremony, Mr O’Brien’s remains were brought to be cremated at Mount Jerome Crematorium, Harold’s Cross, Dublin.