RIP: Late Galway sportsman rose to public prominence giving eulogy at GAA star cousin's funeral

The Rahoon man rose to public prominence after giving the eulogy at his cousin's funeral in Kilbeacanty, outside Gort. Galway County hurler Niall Donohue took his own life at home in Ballyturin two days before his 23rd birthday in 2013.

Then aged 29, Niall did not flinch from the circumstances of such a shocking end of a celebrated sportsman.

He told the congregation: “The truth is Niall’s life ended in a way that leaves all of us confused and hurt as it bears no resemblance to the Niall we know, full of laughter, full of the love of life. But that same truth is that Niall’s death was not a decision, but it was a struggle. All of us carry our own crosses, and life can be hard, but we all must try to keep moving forward.

“Yet I know Niall’s second trip back to that confessional box was also an example of bravery. He went back a second time and spoke. Were he here, were he to speak to any one of you who is having difficulty in your own lives, he would tell you to go back a second time, and talk to someone about the challenges you are facing.”

It struck a chord in an Ireland jaded by years of the Celtic Tiger followed by a devastating recession.

In subsequent interviews, including one in the Connacht Tribune with Ciaran Tierney, he recalled how he was finishing a course in construction management in Galway when his brother Bernard died in similarly tragic circumstances eight years before. He was also aged 22.

After years of experience on building sites and the construction industry beckoning, Bernard’s death changed everything.

Growing up in Gort Gréine in Rahoon up to that point, he recalled living a "carefree life," focused on socialising and football.

A student at St Mary's Secondary School, the talented footballer was nicknamed 'Townie' with West United FC. His sports career ended with a horrific leg injury at the age of 20. Níall recalled that the injury was so severe a surgeon walked into his room and told him they might have to amputate his leg.

He later reflected that it was the grassroots community and the solidarity of his club that carried him through his darkest, bedridden months.

The experience taught him how “true happiness can be found in our family and our relationships... it was my community that really got me through the hard times”.

Struggling to cope with grief, Niall took to reading Bernard's Bible late at night. “For whatever reason, I began to read the scriptures, and I started to develop a relationship with God.”

He returned to college to become a woodwork teacher and then trained as a guidance counsellor, working for years at Tallaght Community School in Dublin.

During his summers off, he volunteered with missionaries around the world, spending time with the homeless in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and with juvenile prisoners in the Philippines capital of Manila.

There was further devastation when just months after burying cousin Niall, the family lost their father Brian to cancer at 63.

He decided to quit his job as a guidance counsellor and moved to the Bronx in New York where he joined a seminary to train as a priest in the Archdiocese of New York.

"When you go through these tragic events in your lives, you have to make a decision. I could not change my circumstances, so in many ways, I was forced to change myself," he explained.

"From that point onwards... I decided to pursue and seek out a purpose and meaning to my life."

His role models became people such as Fr Shay Cullen and the nuns of the Missionaries of Charity.

“I know that my time is limited, everything around me is temporary, so I want to try and use this time in the best way that I can, and there’s no better way than serving God.”

While in New York, Niall split his time between training to be a priest and working with the homeless, addicts and youth at risk of gang violence in the most impoverished communities in the city.

His tale of radical transformation, from profound grief to an unshakeable faith, featured on RTE's Nationwide and The Late Late Show in 2019 when he was 34.

His studies were interrupted when he contracted a serious, long-term illness. In latter years he found love with fiancée Gabriela.

His old club, West Utd, described his talents on the pitch: “If ever looks were deceiving on a football field, Townie was the prime example. While he would go into battle spotless clean and not a rib of hair out of place, one would think they'd have an easy afternoon with this pretty boy marking them.

"That was their first mistake as he'd fly into tackles like a kamikaze pilot and by full time most forwards would have departed with a few souvenirs from Townie. Mostly stud marks.

"Although he was teak tough on the pitch, he was a fabulous ball playing centre back who was part of many brilliant West Utd sides, including the 2009 double winners.”

His former colleagues and students at Tallaght Community School (TCS) remembered him warmly as a "TCS legend" and a "proper gentleman."

Niall got to see his beloved Arsenal lift the Premier League and got into Selhurst Park to see the trophy presentation in May.

Chairperson of West Utd, Galway's Deputy Mayor Josie Forde, said news of Niall's death had hit the soccer community incredibly hard.

“Niall was one of the kindest, most genuine and inspiring people you could ever meet. A true gentleman who had a way of leaving a lasting impression on everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him,” she said.

Washington DC-based Irish broadcaster Colm Flynn became friends after the Nationwide special.

“Even as he faced illness in recent years, he told me how he was offering up his suffering to God, and he wasn’t afraid of dying," he said.

"He was passionate about helping others and always took the time to listen carefully to anyone who came to him with their problems, offering beautiful, thoughtful advice rooted in his faith.”

His own thoughts on his inevitable demise were compelling: “We shouldn't be fearing that our life is going to come to an end, but we should fear that it never had a beginning in the first place."

Niall McDonagh died in the Galway Hospice on Tuesday, October 27, aged 41. He is survived by his mother Mary, his brother David, fiancée Gabriela, sister-in-law Rachel, nephews Rob, Mark and Ben, niece and goddaughter Grace.

His remains will repose at Conneely’s Funeral Home, Flood Street, Galway City on Thursday, October 29 from 5pm to 7pm, with removal afterwards to Galway Cathedral. Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Friday, October 30, at 12pm in Galway Cathedral and will be livestreamed. Níall will then be laid to rest beside his dad and brother in Rakerin Cemetery, Kilbeacanty.