Kerry brothers found dead in Dublin remembered at funeral mass

On the altar were the symbols of their lives — a picture of the much-loved Red Anglia they drove, and a crucifix resting on a pair of hands, to symbolise how they worked together.

There was also a copy of The Kerryman newspaper, to reflect William and Daniel McCarthy’s love of reading newspapers and of keeping up with current affairs.

Speaking at their funeral Mass, Fr Joseph Begley said the brothers, who were deaf, could put their hands to anything. The hands on the crucifix were also a reminder of how the brothers communicated by sign language, he said.

The two men, who were in their 70s, were found dead in their house in Millrose Estate in the Bluebell area of Dublin last week. One had died some weeks ago, and the other had continued to live in the house until he died last weekend.

The two were originally from Dingle, Co Kerry, and had spent up to four weeks at their home place in The Glens, or ‘Na Gleannta’ a quiet valley, three miles north of Dingle this August / September.

“And I am told there wasn’t a blackberry left in The Glens after their visit,” Fr Begley said, drawing laughter from the neighbours and friends in the congregation.

The Mass, in English, but interspersed with Irish, was signed throughout for the benefit of the brothers’ friends in the deaf community, several of whom travelled from Dublin with John Patrick Doherty, chaplain for the deaf.

“Despite the sadness of their passing, the family has cherished memories”, said Fr Begley.

Born into a family of five, they left The Glens to attend St Joseph’s school for the deaf in Dublin.

“But while Dublin was their primary domicile, they would visit the ‘fód dúchais’ at least three times a year,” Fr Begley recalled.

At Christmas, they would shop in Dingle and buy presents for their nieces and nephews.

The church heard the brothers had great loyalty to one another and had experienced great love in the course of their lives. They had an active life, they worked, they shopped, they networked with their many friends.

They are predeceased by a brother, John, and survived by younger brother and a sister Angela.