‘Kind and helpful’ Anthony Devlin is laid to rest

Anthony Devlin, who was 32, was laid to rest on Saturday following Requiem Mass in St Mary’s Church, Cockhill.

Hundreds of mourners gathered both inside and outside the church during the Mass, in which they heard Fr John Walsh speak of how Anthony loved his family and was due to marry his fiancee, Grainne, this December.

Anthony, he added, was born in London and his family moved back to the Illies, outside Buncrana, so that he could go to Illies school. Fr Walsh told how he spoke with a teacher at the school, who described Anthony as an ‘absolutely delightful young man’.

He then attended secondary school in Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana. He was ‘highly intelligent’ and a ‘lovable rogue,’ who ‘hadn’t the slightest interest in books’.

His interest from an early age, mourners heard, was cars and vehicles of all kinds and he became a mechanic.

His family, Fr Walsh said, were Anthony’s world and his two sons were ‘Daddy’s boys’.

"He loved them intensely. He would come home from his work in the shed and read them stories before they went to sleep.

“He was kind and helpful. He would do anything for anybody. A real character, he could speak to anybody’.

Fr Walsh outlined how the whole community had been left ‘shattered’ by Anthony’s death.

"It’s amazing, a church packed like this one, you can almost hear your own breath, because of the silence of the congregation.

"We’ve all come to share the sorrow of this family and we come to express our sympathy with them and give them support in their grief and loss. We may find it hard to express that sympathy in words, because we feel it so deeply, but we express it, at least by our presence here and in Sarida (Illies) since Wednesday evening.”

The symbols of Anthony’s life that were placed on the altar during the funeral were a family photo, as his family was his ‘whole world;’ a vice grip, which not only represented his work as a mechanic but how ‘tight knit’ he was with his family and friends, and a photo of Anthony with his ‘beloved pint of Guinness’.

Numerous tributes have been paid to Anthony since his untimely passing.

Buncrana Parist Priest Father Francis Bradley said people have been speaking in ‘glowing terms’ about the popular father-of-two.

“About his generosity – he was always ready to help. Nothing was impossible for him. Even with machinery or cars or different things other people had given up on, he refused to give up and he always solved the problem.”

Inishowen Cathaoirleach Councillor Jack Murray also said that everyone’s thoughts and prayers are with Mr Devlin’s family.

"The community is absolutely devastated that a young man, with his life ahead of him and a loving family, has been taken tragically in the most horrendous circumstances.

Anthony was laid to rest in Cockhill cemetery following Requiem Mass.