The killing of a young Limerick man in a crowded bar in Limerick last weekend was “brutal” and “futile”, his Funeral Mass was told on Friday.
Patrick 'Pa' O'Connor, (24), was fatally stabbed by another man in Fitzgerald's Bar, Thomondgate, in Limerick, last Saturday.
Mr O’Connor died from his injuries in hospital hours after the attack.
Last Wednesday, a 41-year old man, Mark Crawford, with an address at Distillery View, Thomondgate, was charged before Limerick District Court, with Mr O'Connor's murder.
Canon Donal McNamara, St Munchin’s Church offered Mr O’Connor’s heartbroken family his “deepest heartfelt sympathies” during the funeral.
He said the killing had “left a trail of devastation behind” for the victim’s family. “This tragedy and brutal killing of such a young and loveable man…yes, it’s futile, meaningless, and heartbreaking.”
“No words of mine are either going to soften the blow or ease the pain, and unfortunately, there is no short or fast forwarding through bereavement.”
Fr McNamara said the local community - including the family of the accused - have been left “devastated and numbed” by the killing.
“So many families have been left devastated, shattered, and torn apart as a result of this horrendous crime,” he said. “It’s unfair, it’s cruel and mind-boggling.”
Fr McNamara also told mourners how a number of killings in the community - including the murder of widowed pensioner Rose Hanrahan last December, had left their mark on him and the wider community.
Ms Hanrahan, (78), was found in her Thomondgate home after a suspected break-in at the property.
It is understood Ms Hanrahan had been strangled, and gardaí are, seven months on, still searching for the killer, who is believed to have travelled abroad after the killing.
“On occasions like this, I always find it difficult to speak…You know, before Christmas last, we had a similar funeral experience here in the parish and that was of the late Rose Hanrahan…she was brutally murdered,” Fr McNamara said.
“Then, as now, families, the Parish, in fact - the city, is left in turmoil because of a brutal act of violence on individuals.” Fr McNamara told mourners: “I have no answers, no reasons, and no explanations.”
He described Mr O’Connor as “a lovely young man, caring, supportive, and extremely helpful”.
“He was a good family man. By no means, am I going to canonise him here today, because he was no saint.
“He was, I suppose like many of his equals today, footloose and fancy free. As his mother said, he was a loveable rogue.”