ENNIS CATHEDRAL was at full capacity as the people of Clare and further afield came out in their droves to celebrate the life of their beloved Bishop Willie Walsh.
Rain fell on mourners as they arrived in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, Ennis but the sun shone as the remains of Bishop Walsh were buried in the church grounds.
They came in their droves from all walks of life, representing the community, culture and sporting institutes which Bishop Willie had such an influence on, going beyond his sixteen years as Bishop of Killaloe and sixty six years in the priesthood.
Bishop of the Killaloe Diocese, Fintan Monahan was chief celebrant. Concelebrants included Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly SMA of Cashel and Emly, Bishop Ger Nash of Ferns, Father Laurence Walsh OCSO of Our Lady of Silence Abbey, Roscrea, parish priest of Ennis Fr Tom Ryan along with other bishops and priests in attendance.
A message of sympathy from Cardinal Pietro Parolin on behalf of Pope Francis noted that the Pope was “saddened to learn of the death of Bishop Emeritus William Walsh, and he sends condolences to you, the clergy, religious and lay faithful of the Diocese of Killaloe. Recalling with gratitude the kind and gentle way with which he carried out his many years of Episcopal Ministry, His Holiness commends the late Bishop’s soul to the mercy of Christ the Good Shepherd”.
Colonel Stephen Power, an aide de camp to President Michael D. Higgins was in attendance. Among the mourners from the political sphere were Mayor of Clare, Cllr Alan O’Callaghan (FF), Junior Minister Timmy Dooley TD (FF), Deputy Joe Cooney (FG), Cllr Pat Daly (FF), Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF), Cllr Gabriel Keating (FG), Cllr Michael Begley (IND), former Clare TD, Dr Michael Harty (IND) and senior officials of Clare County Council including Director of Tourism, Siobhán McNulty and Acting Director of Economic Development, Seán Lenihan.
Musician and storyteller Christy McNamara, founder of Clare FM Caimin Jones were among those well known in cultural circles present. Students and staff from Gaelscoil Mhíchíl Cíosóg and St Flannan’s College joined the many mourners which included close to one hundred priests. Condolences were sent by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and Archbishop Diarmuid Farrell.
From the world of sport, two-time All-Ireland winning Clare manager, Ger Loughnane, two-time All-Ireland winner Jamesie O’Connor, All-Ireland winner and former Clare manager, Cyril Lyons, long-standing Clare GAA sponsor Pat O’Donnell, ex Clare hurlers John Callinan and John Russell plus current Clare footballer Ikem Ugwueru were all in the Cathedral to pay their respects.
Music for the liturgy was led by the Cathedral Choir which included members of the Forever Young Choir of which Bishop Willie was a founding member.
In his homily, Bishop Fintan Monahan noted, “During the week we were busy praying for the health and recovery of Pope Francis. While we were doing that a pastor cut out of the same cloth as the Holy Father stole away with no warning and less fuss. Willie Walsh died as he lived, getting on with the business of things, not hanging around, just moving on with intent and clear direction”.
Walsh’s acclaimed autobiography was aptly titled ‘No Crusader’, “in his typical, understated, yet very effective, way he was a profound and effective crusader, winning people over to genuine Christian values through kindness, understanding, listening, generosity, care for the poor, the marginalised, people struggling and suffering in life. He did this through his unstinting work with the Traveling Community, his pastoral outreach to survivors of abuse, the sick, the vulnerable, so many who availed of his spiritual outreach as a true pastor of Jesus Christ.
“I just got to know Bishop Willie personally eight and a half years ago on coming here to Ennis. His warmth, kindness and ever available wisdom was such an asset to help settle in. Even though he immersed himself in enjoying a richly deserved retirement with so many hobbies, interests and such a wide circle of friends and his most beloved family – he was always available to help out and offer a word of advice if requested,” Bishop Monahan stated.
He recalled a recent car journey they shared, “The fact that Willie and I were both struggling with the challenges of hearing loss – he often joked of the advantages of not being able to hear certain things being an actual advantage and a plus in the life of being a bishop. On a recent trip in the car – we had an interesting experience, with me driving, obviously on the right and Willie being on my left. He was deaf in the right ear and me in the left. Nonetheless, we had a delightful journey, with much talk and neither of us having much of a clue what the other was saying”.
Bishop Monahan commented, “As a bishop he led with vision and clarity encouraging pastoral planning to address urgent needs establishing the cluster system, empowering lay people, adult faith development, scripture exploration, support for marriage through his work with Accord, improving the role of women in the Church, youth ministry, pilgrimages, outreach to the poor in the developing world in Africa, South Africa and of course at home”.
He continued, “Willie was a radical in the true sense of the word. He challenged unquestioned beliefs, the accepted mores of society and in doing so stripped them back to their origin, measuring them up against what he believed was the core of the Gospel, Cineáltas Chríost, the Gentleness of Christ. Being frequently out-spoken, he stirred things up. This sometimes ruffled feathers, was occasionally misunderstood, upset a few and others saw it as an effort to overturn hard earned orthodoxy. However Willie, often in thinking out loud – did this with raw honesty, integrity, conviction and belief that his exploration, questioning was a legitimate response to arriving at the divinely revealed truth using the gifts that God generously bestowed upon us.
“The day before he returned to God I had made arrangements with him to meet on Saturday morning at 9.30am and record a video message of Hope, part of the series of Lenten videos for the Jubilee Year of Hope. He was very enthusiastic and looking forward to doing that. I had suspected, considering his passion for hurling that his hopes would be around retaining the All-Ireland crown and prolonging the joy and delight of being victors. However, on Wednesday evening last beside his armchair a copy of his own book was opened with a marker in the chapter on Christian Hope”.
Prayers of the faithful were read by his nephew Willie Walsh, Aoife O’Reilly, Kira Burke, Dónal Ó hAiniféin, Sam Walsh and Karina Kirby. A reflection was delivered by Michael Kirby with Lucy and Sophie Kirby, grand-nieces of Willie delivering a version of A Mhuire Mháthair on the harp.
Willie’s niece Miriam Burke issued her thanks to Bishop Fintan, the clergy, the choir, cathedral staff, undertakers Daniel Kennedy. “While we loved uncle Willie, he was our family, we were always award that we shared him with another family, the Diocese of Killaloe”. She said her uncle lived his life “with purpose; joy and above all humility. We are incredibly fortunate to have shared in his life”.
