Kenny makes mother proud one last time

HIS voice catching with grief at the beginning and end, Enda Kenny was determined to hold things together for the eulogy so he could make his mother proud one final time.

Evocative imagery of the sea ebbed and flowed through the poignant 90-minute requiem service for Eithne Kenny. The Taoiseach recalled she had been born the daughter of a lighthouse keeper and that he had learned of her passing on Saturday while standing on the deck of a naval vessel, which had just rolled through force eight gales guided by the “white beam of hope and comfort” his mother would have known so well from her childhood.

A beautiful poem on the meaning of death noted that as a ship sails away those left behind do not see her anymore, but in a different place she is only just coming into view and being welcomed by others.

Those welcoming Eithne on that other shore, her family remembered, would include her late husband Henry and the triplet daughters the couple buried in infancy.

Mr Kenny, who lived in the family home with his mother until he married in his early 40s, said that at 93 her death was still something “sudden and surreal”, as her “calm, serene soul” was recalled.

Mr Kenny spoke fondly of his mother’s love for the GAA successes of her native Donegal and the adoptive county of Mayo his father Henry helped to victory in 1936.

After thanking the dignitaries in attendance, including former President Mary McAleese, John Bruton, Bertie Ahern and Micheál Martin, Mr Kenny joked that “of course the members of the Government are here because they knows what’s good for them”, but the Taoiseach struggled to contain his emotions as he reached the climax of his tribute.

But weaving his mother’s life story from before the creation of the state through to where the nation stands now in anxious times, the Taoiseach used the experiences of her generation to connect to today’s Ireland, remembering: “President Clinton, when he spoke in Dublin recently, said the life stories of every person over 80 years of age should be written down and appreciated because they showed a truly extraordinary capacity to bring their peoples and their countries through in the face of adversity and austerity in a life when they were taken for granted.”

Fr Pat Donnellan said “a dignified and gracious lady of deep faith who gave generously to all of her many gifts” never boasted of her son’s achievements, but was clearly as “proud as punch” at seeing him become Taoiseach.

Mr Kenny would surely have succeeded in making her proud again yesterday, no doubt the words of Fr Donnellan a comfort: “Grief is the price we pay for love.”