THE BROTHER of 21-year-old Ennis man Eoin Ryan yesterday asked mourners to remember Eoin “as a peaceful, loving, beautiful young man”.
Daniel Ryan was speaking at the end of the funeral Mass where hundreds of people joined the Ryan family to mourn the death on Tuesday last of the student who was studying law at the University of Limerick.
Joe Heffernan (31) of Cappabeg, Barefield, Co Clare, was charged with Eoin Ryan’s murder at Ennis District Court on Wednesday.
In his homily, Fr Harry Brady told mourners that “our world has been turned upside down, leaving us confused, frightened, distressed and anxious”.
He said: “We’ve all come with broken hearts, and none more broken than Eoin’s family.
“Eoin’s death is a loss of a young life and is a shock not only to his family, but to his friends in this parish and many other communities.”
The parish priest of Ballyea was joined on the altar by a number of priests, including Fr Jerry Carey, the parish priest of Doora-Barefield, where Eoin’s body was found last Tuesday morning.
Fr Brady told the congregation: “We all come here to share the grief with Eoin’s family. We are lost for words but we pray silently in our hearts.”
Eoin’s father, Don, is a former president of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland and Fr Brady said: “For 21 years, Don and Phil watched Eoin grow up to be a kind, thoughtful, friendly man, very attached to home and very close to his family.”
Fr Brady said Eoin was a successful student in law and French and spent a year in Paris along with a period in Brussels working with the then MEP Alan Kelly. Now Minister of State for Transport, Mr Kelly was one of the mourners present at the funeral Mass.
Also in attendance were two of Eoin’s uncles, Mayor of Clare Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind) and former mayor Cllr PJ Kelly (FF).
Eoin had been accepted for a master’s studies course at Queen’s University Belfast, said Fr Brady.
“For his family, his community and many friends, Eoin David Ryan mattered and made his mark.”
After Mass, Eoin Ryan’s remains were buried in the adjoining cemetery.
He is survived by his father Don, mother Phil, brother Daniel and sister Lisa.
