Joint funeral to be held for Cork brothers who died of separate drug overdoses

Mother calls for more action to be taken against dealers selling 'dirty drugs'

Dillon Kavanagh died at the age of 30 on January 23 last.

A joint funeral is to be held on Saturday for two brothers from Cork who died of separate drug overdoses within a two-week period — with their mother losing three sons in all to drugs and another from a health condition.

Christine Kavanagh, aged 65, from Gurranabraher on the northside of Cork city, is calling on the Government to allocate more resources for people who battle addiction.

Her son, Dillon Kavanagh, aged 30, died on January 23 in Cork city. Damien Kavanagh, aged 36, was found dead in his flat in Cardiff in Wales on January 8.

Damien Kavanagh had left Cork in a bid to get off drugs.

Poignantly, Damien had made the decision to move out of Cork in recent years in an effort to escape from the drugs scene in the city. It is understand he was clean from drugs for some time.

Leon Kavanagh, aged 31, succumbed to drug addiction in 2021. Separately, Ms Kavanagh also lost a fourth son Ross, who was 31, in 2016 after he collapsed and died of an epilepsy-related condition.

The body of Damien Kavanagh was brought back to Ireland from Wales with the assistance of the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust. Mourners are asked to donate to the trust, if desired, in lieu of flowers.

Damien and Dillon are survived by their parents Terry and Christine, their seven surviving siblings, extended family and a large circle of friends. Damien is also survived by his children Deon and Kelvin and their mother Sonya.

A requiem mass for both men will take place at 10am on Saturday in St Mary’s on the Hill Church in Knocknaheeny with burial following at St Catherine’s Cemetery, Kilcully.

'There should be more help out there'

Christine Kavanagh previously told The Opinion Line producer Paul Byrne on Cork’s 96FM that more needs to be done to make drug dealers accountable for their actions.

“They (dealers) have to stop dealing these dirty drugs to our sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers ... It is not fair for a mum, a dad, a sister or a brother to bury another brother or a son. There should be more help out there, more services for them.

"Dillon was a lovely son. Very educated but when he went down that road with those dirty drugs it just took Dillon away from us.” 

Christine thanked her family and the local community for their support over the years and particularly in recent weeks as she has endured the unimaginable loss of two of her sons.