Memorial Mass hears of impact made by soldier Seán Rooney

The life of Private Seán Rooney "had a ripple effect way beyond the years that we might have expected for him". Picture: Defence Forces

A priest has told how the impact of the short life of tragic soldier Seán Rooney will be felt for generations to come.

Parish priest of Newtwoncunningham in Co Donegal, Fr Philip Kemmy, addressed parishioners who gathered for the 24-year-old's Month's Mind Mass at All Saints Church today.

Hundreds of locals joined Seán's family and friends as they remembered the life of the young soldier killed in Lebanon on December 14 last.

Included amongst the congregation who braved the January cold and rain was Seán's mother Natasha, her partner Paul McCloskey, as well as Seán's fiancee Holly McConnellogue, whom he was due to marry in August.

Fr Kemmy said it was not the number of days which made a life honourable, but rather how that life was lived.

He added that Seán's death was not the end but the beginning of something new, but accepted that it will be difficult for his family and that their grief will be "raw and hard".

A photograph of Séan Rooney in the hearse at the Church of the Holy Family, Dundalk, on the day of his funeral Mass. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

He said a number of the Church's great saints died at a very young age, referring to St Theresa, St Joan of Arc, and St Aloysius Gonzaga.

He told mourners: "We are all living from the benefits of their lives. Quite short lives, but their life has a ripple effect that goes on."

And Seán's life, far too short, has a ripple effect way beyond the years that we might have expected for him, because that ripple effect of his life, so well lived and so lived full of love, that will go on in your lives and even into other generations."

The congregation also included representatives of the Defence Forces, both serving and retired.

Fr Kemmy thanked members of the Inishowen Gate Singers, who provided the hymns at the Mass.

A second Month's Mind Mass for Private Rooney will take place at the Church of the Holy Family in Dundalk on Sunday.

Having joined the Irish Defence Forces in March 2019, Pte Rooney's home unit was the 27 Infantry Battalion, Aiken Barracks, Dundalk.

Directly after today's Mass, members of Seán's family and friends made their way to his graveside in the adjoining cemetery to spend personal time at the grave of the fallen soldier.