Tralee comes to a standstill for funeral
Mr Kennelly, 82, died at his home in Ashe Street, Tralee, on Sunday.
After a Mass concelebrated by seven priests at St John’s Church Tralee, led by Monsignor Dan Riordan, and which included Church of Ireland minister Canon Robert Warren, the cortege took over an hour to wind its way to Rath cemetery on the outskirts of Tralee.
A guard of honour was provided by the 40 staff members of the newspaper he founded in 1974 with his late wife, Joan, in the basement of his home in Ashe Street.
The cortege stopped outside the newspaper premises alongside the family home as a mark of respect.
Among those who paid tribute to his work since his death was Arts and Heritage Minister Jimmy Deenihan. He said Padraig was “a community man” and his work was a commitment to public service.
The Mayor of Kerry, Pat Leahy, also paid tribute to Padraig’s love of Kerry and tireless work to promote the county and recalled his oft-repeated statement that “a day spent outside Kerry is a day wasted”.
In an unusual step, Tralee Circuit Court also paid tribute to Mr Kennelly this week.
Barrister John O’Sullivan, on behalf of the bar, said Padraig had “worked assiduously in the courts in Kerry during his career and he was highly respected among the legal profession for the thoroughness, accuracy and courtesy with which he carried out his work”.
A pharmacist by profession, Padraig’s passion for photography led him in that direction and he and Joan established a photo-journalism business.
His son, the multimillionaire businessman Jerry Kennelly, spoke at the funeral Mass of the happy chaos of the family home, which was also the hub of a newspaper and an international photo-journalism business.
Padraig’s great friend the former RTÉ political journalist and broadcaster Seán Duignan also spoke of their work together and friendship.
Padraig Kennelly is survived by four sons: Padraig, Brendan, Jerry and Kerry.
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