St. Columba’s Church in Drung was packed to overflowing yesterday as hundreds gathered to mourn the death of local man, Danny Doherty, who died tragically in a road traffic accident on Friday evening.
Five priests led the service as people from Quigley’s Point, Moville, Greencastle and beyond paid tribute to the popular mechanic and welder, who worked in Moville.
Parish priest Fr Tony Mailey described the service as “a very sad occasion”, adding that Mr. Doherty’s family and the entire community had suffered a “great loss”.
Fr Mailey praised the deceased’s tremendous devotion to the promotion of the the Pioneer Association, saying he wore his badge with pride. He was also someone who took his religion seriously.
“He was a devoted, loving father, husband and brother. He was also a gentleman, someone who was loved and valued by so many people. His death leaves a vacant chair at his house in Cabry [Quigley’s Point]. He will be sadly missed.
Mr. Doherty’s only daughter, Danielle, paid eloquent tribute to her father who, she said, “did everything for me and my mammy”.
“He was a great daddy, husband and friend to me and my mammy and a lot of other people who knew him. He was a strong character and his presence was always felt and I know that will never change.
“I am not sad today. I want to celebrate his good life. I now take over his job of looking after my mammy. We will have hard times ahead but we will have happy times too. All he ever wanted was to keep mammy and me happy and we’ve got to keep that up.”
Danielle said that when she met someone she “only had to mention his name” and people automatically knew who she was.
“Daddy loved his work but it was not his life. He loved his job and had many great relationships with the people he worked with and met everyday. He was grateful to the people who gave him work down through the years.”
Danielle said her father, who she described as being the “core” of the family, and herself were “very alike” but they had many fights throughout her 21 years.
She added: “As a family there were times in the past few years when we did hit bottom but my dad was the core of our family, pulling us up and never showing it to the outside world.
“He was always there for me and when I had difficult times he didn’t have to speak, I knew he was there. In many ways this has been a good year for us. For the first time in years we were happy and him and my mammy were perfect for each other.”
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