HUNDREDS OF friends and former colleagues attended the funeral yesterday of Ella Shanahan, former London editor of The Irish Timesand the country's first female agricultural correspondent. Mourners at St Mary's Church in Butlerstown, Co Waterford, heard tributes to Ms Shanahan's generosity and energy, journalistic principles and support for younger journalists.
Ms Shanahan, who worked for The Irish Timesfrom 1972 to 1974 and from 1977 to 2002, died on Thursday at the age of 60.
Michael O’Halloran, a long-time friend and colleague of Ms Shanahan, described her as one of the liveliest and most generous people he had known. At the graveside he said his “irreplaceable friend” was capable of “lighting up a room in 20 seconds”.
The celebrant, local parish priest Fr Paul Murphy, said the presence of so many people at the requiem Mass on the Sunday of a bank holiday weekend was a fitting tribute to the regard in which she was held.
Paul O'Neill, editorial director of The Irish Times,recalled knowing Ms Shanahan for 40 years, since his father was editor of the Waterford News & Starand she was a precocious young journalist for the newspaper. "There are people who influence lives for the better, people who you can almost guarantee will make a positive impact when you meet them, people whose company you seek because you just know they will make you smile. More than anyone I have ever known, Ella was one of them," he said. For so many years, he told mourners, she was "the brightest of lights".
Former IFA chief executive Michael Berkery, former secretary general of the department of agriculture John Malone and Aidan Cotter, chief executive of Bord Bia, as well as many current and past Irish Timesstaff attended.
