Heartbroken fiancée remembers tragic Darragh as he's laid to rest in Doneraile

Darragh Sheehan from Doneraile, who died in Killarney last week.

The grieving parents of the young man who died after being found unconscious outside a Killarney hotel at the weekend paid moving tributes to their first-born child before he was buried.

Hannah and Thomas Sheehan fought back tears as they told mourners at Darragh’s funeral Mass of their deep love for him, and of their incredible sense of loss following his death in what gardaí have described as “unexplained circumstances”.

Darragh, 26, from Doneraile, died after being found unconscious outside the Gleneagle Hotel on the Muckross Road at about 11.30pm on Saturday. A garda investigation is ongoing.

Ms Sheehan said her life stopped at 12.23pm on Sunday when she got that call that Darragh had died, describing him as her “first love, a caring kind protector, and a gentle giant”.

“No parent should have to suffer the heartbreak of losing their child,” she said.

“All we can do now is remember Darragh as he was — a big-hearted, hard-working honest, and lovable son, brother, friend, and fiancée. We remember a boy, a man that has given us so much pride.

“We remember a brother to Fiona and Kevin, who was always there for them, a grandchild that was so good to his adoring grandparents, we remember a man who was loved by his friends, a coworker who was loyal to his colleagues, and the loving relationship he had with Karen.

Brother Kevin and father Tom carry the coffin at Darragh Sheehan's funeral. Members of Doneraile GAA Club form a Guard of Honour at funeral of Darragh Sheehan in Doneraile, Co. Cork. Picture: Michael Mac Sweeney/Provision

“But mostly we remember the beautiful child who blossomed into a beautiful man. Although we are mourning, his memory will live on longer than this day.” 

Thomas spoke of Darragh’s “core character”, and of how it was revealed as he matured into a young man.

“Today I asked some people to go under the coffin and there was a degree of symbolism in that because the people I asked represent solid, good decency, and for me, that symbolism was important because it was a mirror image of the fella that was up on their shoulders,” he said.

He said he had learned from his son, and he told Darragh’s heartbroken fiancée, Karen O’Sullivan, that his son “loved her endlessly”.

“You were what completed him and for that we are eternally grateful. And the organic growth of the character blossomed a lot quicker when he had you at the side,” he said.

In a moving letter read out on her behalf, Karen recalled the moment Darragh proposed to her last February, describing them as the “missing piece to each other’s puzzle”.

She said he will be her "one and only true love".

Family and fiancée Karen O’Sullivan, members of Doneraile GAA Club form a Guard of Honour at funeral of Darragh Sheehan in Duhallow, Co. Cork. Picture: Michael Mac Sweeney/Provision

His friends brought gifts to the altar to signify his interests in life, including a football, a riding hat, a photograph of one of his pomeranians, and a golf club, and placed them on a table alongside his coffin.

In his homily, parish priest, Very Reverend Fr Aidan Crowley, said an incredible gloom and shadow had descended on the parish since news of Darragh’s death emerged and that many questions remain.

“Now is not the time to ask some of the questions. We just need somebody to hold us, to say we will get there together. The questions are for a later time," he said.

Darragh’s remains were taken to Oldcourt Cemetery later for burial.