Lives Lost to Covid-19: Richard Brady – Avid Dubs fan who loved his family dearly

This article is one of a series about people who have died with coronavirus in Ireland and among the diaspora. You can read more of them here. If you would like a friend or family member included in the series, please email liveslost@irishtimes.com

Richard Brady

1954-2020

Richard Brady grew up and lived happily in Dublin before later relocating to Wexford, although he brought a piece of his hometown with him in the shape of a proudly worn blue GAA jersey. A quiet man, happiest around his children and grandchildren, he died one year ago at the age of 66.

“The Dubs never left him. He went everywhere in his Dubs jersey,” his sister Catherine says, describing a sports-mad brother in the run-up to his first anniversary.

“He was very, very shy. A very quiet person. In my lifetime I never heard him raise his voice or shout at anyone.”

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Richard grew up with his two sisters, Catherine and the late Agnes, and brother Kevin on Sullivan Street, right opposite Dublin’s Phoenix Park where they shared a happy childhood.

He went to O'Connell Christian Brothers School and from there to work for An Post as a teenager, at first on a motorcycle delivering telegrams, and later with the travelling Post Office. He would man the nightly delivery train from Dublin to Cork for most of his working life.

Later on he lived in Blanchardstown in west Dublin with his wife Margaret whom he had been with for 37 years. Together they raised seven children, five from Margaret's previous relationship. In the early 2000s, however, they lost their daughter Louise and son Shane, both in tragic circumstances.

Passion for electronics

Through his life Richard enjoyed a passion for electronics, beginning with early subwoofers, and he spent his time researching what gadgets he might get next. He was an avid Manchester United fan too, against the family grain.

“He kind of went his own way on that. The rest of us went different routes with football clubs but he loved United,” explains Catherine, who recalls a trip they shared to Wembley Stadium where United lost a cup final to her own team Liverpool in the early 1980s.

When he later moved to Courtown in Wexford, Richard would spend his time quietly, walking, driving or being with his family.

“He was a very calm person. When he moved to Courtown he went for a walk every day on his own. He might wave at someone but he never really stopped for conversation. He kind of did his own thing,” Catherine says.

“The thing he loved most of all was being around his children and later his grandchildren. They were mad about him. They are still suffering because they loved him so much.”

When he became ill he initially thought he had contracted coronavirus but had pulled through it. Later though, his breathing became laboured and he was brought to hospital by ambulance. He was put on a ventilator that night.

Catherine was with him when he died. She had brought in a picture of his parents wrapped in plastic but was unable to leave it with him.