A large congregation of mourners gathered in Dublin on Tuesday to pay final respects to Irish Times sports journalist Carl O’Malley, who was remembered as a compassionate, wise and funny individual.
Carl became ill while playing a soccer game with his team FC Fathom last Thursday and was taken by ambulance to St Vincent’s Hospital where he died, aged 36.
He leaves behind his wife Moira and their three young children, Charlie (6), Arwen (3) and Carl Leo (two weeks).
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Several hundred mourners also heard the Tully family have suffered a double loss, with the death of Moira’s father George on Monday morning.
Carl’s funeral Mass heard of a cheeky, charming young boy who grew up to become a caring husband and father.
“His siblings [John and Katherine] called him ‘old wisdom face’ because from an early age he could charm an adult with a smile and a cheeky intro,” said his mother, Katherine, reading words prepared by his father, Carl.
“Observed by his older siblings from the safety of the stairs, he would insert himself among the legs of an adult party and, dressed in his jammies, he would say something like, ‘My name’s Carl, what’s yours?’.”
She added: “Carl’s passing has left me [his father] with a hole in my heart which will never heal… a light has gone out of our lives, and that is why we’re here today.”
Terrible shock
Chief celebrant Fr Brendan Carr, who officiated at Carl and Moira’s wedding and baptised their children, said the death came as a terrible shock.
“I liked Carl a lot,” he said. “I liked his friendliness, his style, his sense of humour. I liked his friends and I liked the way he cared for others.”
Fr Carr read from an article printed in this newspaper on Saturday that described Carl as a key figure in the Irish Times sports department, a driver of sports coverage online who also featured regularly in print.
The priest sympathised with those who liked to follow Carl’s writing and said readers would have delighted in the enjoyment he would have gotten from the weekend victories of Liverpool and Ireland - “in that order”.
Fr Carr also expressed a deep sadness for a life cut so short, saying the sudden death of someone so young makes everyone feel vulnerable.
“We don’t like this place of vulnerability and we struggle to escape the bleakness of our human condition, the reality of limits in our lives and our lack of control,” he said.
He recalled a recent conversation he had with Carl’s mother, Katherine, in which she told him how delighted she was with her son and his wife and the family they had made together. He was on the crest of a wave, Fr Carr said, a “great father” whose life was going well.
‘Very grateful’
Katherine herself thanked the mourners at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Kimmage Manor. “It’s wonderful to see you,” she said. “We know that Carl meant a lot to all of you and we’re very grateful for that. Your love and care has buoyed us up – we’ll cry later.”
The congregation included a large number of journalists, soccer writers in particular. President Michael D Higgins was represented by his aide-de-camp Capt Fergal Joyce; former Republic of Ireland soccer manager Brian Kerr also attended, as did National Union of Journalists general secretary Seamus Dooley.
Representatives of The Irish Times included chairman Dan Flinter, managing director Liam Kavanagh, editor Kevin O’Sullivan, editorial director Paul O’Neill, sports editor Malachy Logan, news editor Roddy O’Sullivan and soccer correspondent Emmet Malone, as well as dozens more of his colleagues from the company.
Sports journalists present included Neil O'Riordan (the Sun), Shane McGrath (the Mail), Brendan O'Brien (the Examiner), Liam Mackey (the Examiner), Aidan Fitzmaurice (the Herald), Daniel McDonnell (Irish Independent), Michael Scully (the Mirror) Paul O'Hehir (the Mirror) Ciarán Ó Raghallaigh (Sunday Mirror) and Kieran Holden (TV3).
