Writer, publisher and Irish language activist Pádraig Ó Snodaigh was described as a giant and a man of light as large crowd of mourners gathered for his funeral in Baldoyle, Dublin.
Mr Ó Snodaigh, a major figure in the language movement, died on Thursday at the age of 89. He was a former president of Conradh na Gaeilge, spending decades campaigning for language rights while working for the ESB and the National Museum.
His wicker coffin was draped in the sunburst flag of the Conradh as it was carried into the Church of St Peter and Paul.
The funeral heard how Mr Ó Snodaigh borrowed £1,000 from a friend in 1980 to establish the pioneering Irish language imprint Coiscéim, going on to publish some 1,777 books.
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“The giant has gone but he will be in our hearts,” said his son Colm, telling how his father was a novelist, poet, historian, translator, activist and a supporter and adviser to hundreds of writers.
[ Pádraig Ó Snodaigh, foilsitheoir agus gníomhaí teanga, ar lárOpens in new window ]
Describing his father’s hearty laughter, Colm said he lived full and honest life, full of love. “He was a revolutionary who spent his life doing things that people said couldn’t be done, who often proved that the impossible was possible in his hands.”
His single-minded determination was such that he was undeterred by difficulty in the tasks he set himself. “This is the direct method: ‘I must do this. It must be done. I will do it. And I will wake up in the morning and do the exact same again tomorrow because I am right and it doesn’t matter if you think I’m wrong.’”
Predeceased by his wife Cliodhna Cussen, Mr Ó Snodaigh is survived by sons Fergus, Aengus, Colm, Cormac, Rónán and Rossa.
Aengus Ó Snodaigh is Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South-Central. Brothers Colm, Rónán and Rossa Ó Snodaigh are members of the folk band Kíla. They played music with singers Méav Ní Mhaolchatha and Liam Ó Maonlaí, fiddlers Colm Mac Con Iomaire and Aoife Nic Cormaic and other musicians.
President Michael D Higgins, who attended Mr Ó Snodaigh’s wake on Sunday, was represented by aide-de-camp Col Stephen Howard.
Mourners included Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and TDs Pearse Doherty, Dessie Ellis and Matt Carthy. Fianna Fáil senator Mark Daly attended, as did poet Theo Dorgan and Coimisiún na Meán commissioner Rónán Ó Domhnaill, a former Coimisinéir Teanga.
“Solas ab ea é,” said Fr Micheál Mac Lafertaigh, describing Mr Ó Snodaigh as a gifted man and a light. “He put out the darkness, as they say, and he lit the light. Now that light has gone out,” he said.
Language campaigner Ciarán Ó Feinneadha recounted Mr Ó Snodaigh’s long career in activism, describing how he first met him 51 years ago and was inspired by him. “As a 16-year-old I saw that I would like to follow this man,” he said.
As the coffin was taken from the church, singer Marcus Mac Conghail led the entire congregation in a rousing rendition of ‘Sé mo Laoch.
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