Tributes were paid to the late Father Eddie Fitzgerald whose book on living with cancer, Cancer Busters, was published earlier this year, at a Requiem Mass in St Agnes's Church, Crumlin, Dublin, yesterday.
Father Fitzgerald, a member of the Salesian order, died on Thursday aged 60. He was editor of the Salesian Bulletin and wrote many books, pamphlets and articles. A gifted communicator, he also did a number of readings on radio and appeared on the Late Late Show earlier this year after Cancer Busters was published.
He recently won the Religious Publications Association award for excellence of design, printing and photography.
Father Flor McCarthy, a friend of Father Fitzgerald, told the large attendance that Eddie was blessed with a keen intelligence, lively imagination, a love of music and the arts and a love of living.
It was true that the bad health which dogged him most of his life, limited him, but when he got cancer he really got to grips with life, Father McCarthy said. This made him even more determined to live life to the full. He did not lie down, he talked about it and he wrote his book Cancer Busters.
He used his suffering as an opportunity to reach out to others, to write his book, to appear on the Late, Late Show. He got a huge response in messages and letters from the public. His illness became the most fruitful point of his life and he went through a transformation at this time.
Two weeks before he died he came back to Salesian House in Crumlin. He wanted to be in his own room again, surrounded by familiar things and members of his community. It was there he died.
Sister Eilis Bergin, who had worked in the running of a number of religious workshops with Father Fitzgerald, said he loved life and tried to make it more bearable for others. She described how even in his last weeks he was still trying to help others and brighten their lives. She read extracts from some of his writings.
Mr Liam Fitzgerald, a brother, said when they were children in Tralee Eddie wanted to do two things. He wanted to be a priest and he wanted to write. He was a voracious reader, he loved words.
He was interested in music and played the trombone in the college orchestra. He was also a keen footballer. Because of his courage and lack of fear, he suffered quite a lot of injuries which affected him in later life.
In recent years he had cancer. Many people would start praying or lie down, but he did not, and he tried to use his illness to help others and even embarked on writing his book on the subject. "He was cut from a very different stone; he was a very spirited person."
The chief mourners were Mr Liam Fitzgerald, his wife Anne and family. The large attendance was led by the Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, Dr Eamon Walsh, priests the Salesian Order, members of the community with whom he had worked and representatives from the communications sector.
The body was removed to the Salesian College, Pallaskenry, Co Limerick. The funeral Mass will take place today at 2 p.m., with burial afterwards in the college cemetery.