RAMELTON man Cronán O’Donnell was remembered for having a warm, generous and welcoming heart at his requiem Mass on Monday.

Cronán, of 6 Elm Court, Ramelton, passed away peacefully in the caring hands of the staff of the Mater Hospital, Dublin after a short illness on Thursday, October 9.

Requiem Mass took place in St Mary’s Church, Ramelton on Monday morning.

Addressing the congregation, Chief Celebrant, Fr Michael Carney recalled his first time meeting Cronán.

“I first met Cronán the day he began secondary school in St Eunan’s in Letterkenny,” Fr Carney said.

“I remember his smile.

“He smiled with his eyes and when he smiled with his eyes, he lit up.

“It was a shy, bashful smile.”

Meeting up with the well-known local man in June, Fr Carney recalled what they spoke about that day.

“He talked with depth and with feeling about his life, about his loves, about Denise (his wife), about the kids and about his family,” Fr Carney said.

Cronán had a distinguished engineering career, working on notable projects including the Omagh Bypass, the bridge over Mulroy Bay, and the Carrigart Boardwalk.

“As I came away from him that day, the image of a bridge stuck in my head,” Fr Carney said.

“Bridges are taken for granted, but they span rivers, or valleys, and offer access to places that without them, it would be harder or impossible to reach.

“Bridges allow people to meet and pass from one side of a divide to the other.

“They bring people together.

“Bridges are sturdy, they are dependable, and they put up with all sorts of weather conditions and every form of traffic.

“In many senses, the bridges Cronán was responsible for provide a metaphor for his life, his work or his character.

“Cronán brought people together, he was dependable, and he dealt with lots of adversity and stood strong throughout those tests.”

Fr Carney described Cronán as having two distinct sides to his personality.

Professionally, he was serious-minded with a meticulous curiosity about how things worked and how they could be fixed.

Personally, he had a playful, humorous side.

He was known for his refined sense of the ridiculous, often displaying an infectious, giddy humour.

Fr Carney spoke of Cronán’s fondness for both farming and music.

“He loved animals,” Fr Carney said.

“He had a habit of picking up stray dogs without really knowing where they had come from or what they were capable of.

“Sometimes Mary (his mother) and the rest of the family had to pick up the pieces left by these stray dogs and indeed Cronán’s soft heartedness for animals.

“And if I am not mistaken, at a particular stage he kept pigs.”

His love of music saw him attempt to learn the banjo, guitar, violin and mouth-organ.

“I don’t think he succeeded at any, but he tried all of them,” Fr Carney joked.

“Maybe engineering and music don’t mix as well as we might think.”

Often thinking about Cronán, Fr Carney said inside this big man, there was a little, giggling boy, in his joy of living an adventure.

“Everything from loving the thrill of fireworks, to having the craic, and being with his friends,” Fr Carney said.

Cronán’s greatest loves were his wife, Denise, and their four children.

“Cronán loved people with a big, warm, welcoming heart,” Fr Carney said.

“I will never do justice in a few words to that relationship or indeed to the love that was the foundation of your lives.

“Cronán tried to fit his career choices around his ability to have quality family time and quality home time.

“In everything he did, with them and for them, he was a loving husband and dad, there for his family, who were his pride and his joy.

“I am sure for Denise he was more than just a husband and partner, he was a rock, he was a best friend, he was a team mate, and he was the calm cushion helping to absorb some of life’s lows.”

After Mass, burial took place in the adjoining cemetery.

Cronán will be forever loved and missed by his heartbroken family, his wife Denise and his children Kyra, Niamh, Calvagh and Naoise.

He is the cherished son of Mary and Eamonn (deceased), Killycreen, Ramelton, much loved brother of Evita Doherty (Charlie), Moville, Eamonn (Orla), Ramelton and Emer O’Neill (Conn), Derry.

He will be very sadly missed by his extended McDaid family, aunts, nieces, nephews, cousins and his wide circle of friends.