An honourable man from an honourable family, Denis ‘Dinny’ Hanrahan was laid to rest in a drizzle-sodden Portlaw on Saturday morning last.
To the strains of ‘Fare Thee Well Lovely Deise’ and a Clonea-Power jersey placed atop his coffin, Dinny was carried to his final resting place after Requiem Mass at Saint Patrick’s Church.
Local curate Father Ned Hassett spoke of the gloom that had beset the town since the news of Denis Hanrahan’s death broke on Wednesday last.
That sense of gloom, grief and utter shock was palpable amongst the large congregation which gathered to pay its respects to a quietly-spoken, private man who was known to many across the county and beyond.
Dinny Hanrahan’s name was widely known through his long years of service to the Gaelic Athletics Association. For 25 years, as secretary of the Eastern Board in Waterford, Dinny had proven a most diligent and efficient officer.
The “paradox” that the final days of Dinny Hanrahan’s life represented were referred to by Fr Hassett during the funeral homily.
“Dinny Hanrahan was always known to be an honest and honourable man from an honest and honourable family,” he said.
“How utterly incongruous then for Dinny to end his days in the shadow of financial irregularity.”
Dinny’s was a face well-known to the many customers who filed in and out of the town’s Credit Union office on Upper Brown Street, just a short walk from his home.
Over the decades, he was also a familiar face and point of contact for many members of the local press at League and Championship matches.
It’s one of life’s ironies that the true measure of a person’s popularity remains without public reveal until the occasion of their Funeral Mass. And so it was with Dinny Hanrahan, the Clonea native who’d lived in Portlaw for most of his adult life.
“Dinny was a pillar of strength, stability and common sense to so many people,” added Fr Hassett. “Perhaps he was unable in turn to allow others to be a pillar for him.”
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