Dr Edward (Eddie) Cotter died suddenly in Wexford on the early morning of Saturday, November 3rd, aged 71. He had been ill for a few days but was playing golf only seven days previously.
A native of Cork, he was educated at Christian Brothers College and Glenstal Abbey. He qualified as a doctor through Trinity College, but then went on to qualify in dentistry. He had built up a large, successful practice in Morehampton Road up to 11 years ago, when deteriorating eyesight forced his premature retirement.
He was a remarkable man and his removal and funeral Mass were two of the biggest such occasions, outside State funerals, that most of those present had seen. There was a massive outpouring of grief from all who knew him. He left a gap in our affections and there is no successor in sight.
What, then, set him apart? Was it his capacity for friendship, companionship and good humour and seeing the wryly funny side of life? Was it his self-deprecating memories of minor incidents and his ability to make Joyce-like epiphany out of an apparently ordinary, everyday event? Whatever alchemy of qualities he had, we need them and always will.
There is no Chair of Friendship in our institutions of higher learning, but it is an important part of life and always has been. Practitioners who reach the level at which Eddie operated could give master classes and should be given honorary degrees to make up for the lack of official recognition of one of the best characteristics of our own people.
When people mention "our crowd", it usually means a loose bonding or banding of 20 or 30 people who see each other fairly regularly. In Eddie's case "our crowd" would stretch to hundreds and he continued to make new friends both young and old. He was a very "clubbable man" and although he was a regular visitor to Fitzwilliam LTC, Portmarnock and Rosslare golf clufs and Lansdowne RFC, Milltown Golf Club was the centre of his activities.
In recent years he had won the snooker championship and the president's prize in golf. His acceptance speeches at these events were hilarious, but it would be pointless to try to give a flavour of them without his delivery and timing. He had been "on the dry" in recent years, but this did not detract in the slightest from his warmth. He remained a fountain of merriment.
Ethna (nΘe Carton) supported him loyally and lovingly all his life, and his four children, Cliana, Raymond, Barbara and Edward, held him in the deepest affection. What more could a man ask? We are often warned, "Ask not for whom the bell tolls . . . it tolls for thee". We who are left behind know this.
B.O'D.