One of the biggest funerals in living memory in Limerick parish in freezing temperatures for Dolores

MOURNERS queued for hours on a freezing cold afternoon to pay their respects to a Limerick lady who, through the warmth of her personality, touched so many lives.

The reposal of Dolores Madden, of Annaholty, took place in St Joseph’s Church, Castleconnell on Sunday, January 4. The queue went out the door of the church, up Main Street, around the corner onto Castle Street and past the Mick Mackey statue. It lasted from 2.45pm to 7.15pm. Dolores, aged in her mid-50s, passed away suddenly on January 1.

Fr Willie Teehan said it was one of the biggest funerals in living memory in Castleconnell.

However, the co-parish priest said he wasn’t one bit surprised with the response that Dolores got.

“The goodwill that she generated was just unbelievable. There's a fantastic community here in Castleconnell and Dolores was a huge part of it,” said Fr Teehan.

READ NEXT: 'Deep void': Limerick parish mourns sudden passing of a community man to his core

She worked in St Vincent’s Day Centre, Tipperary Town but the amount of time she volunteered in Castleconnell, Ahane, Montpelier, Lisnagry was a full-time job in itself. 

Dolores was a pastoral worker, member of the pastoral council, involved in Care of the Aged, meals on wheels, church choirs, Ahane Camogie Club, St Vincent’s, Lisnagry and carried out many quiet acts of kindness that only the recipients know about.

“She was a fabulous parishioner and an excellent pastoral worker. She was brilliant at the sacramental preparation with the children for first communion, first confession and their confirmations. She always did a certificate for each child every year,” said Fr Teehan,

The priest described Dolores as good fun, a hard worker and a very genuine person. 

“She was a very talented but unassuming person. It was never about herself, it was always about the community, always about the needy and the people on the margins,” said Fr Teehan, who feels the loss of Dolores keenly as she and her mother Kathleen have been big supporters of him and the church since he came to the parish seven-and-a-half years ago.

“Both of them did fantastic work here in the parish with the older and younger people, and were a great support of the priests back through the years. I had no better friends than Dolores and Kathleen and the Madden family,” said Fr Teehan.

The funeral Mass was followed by a reception in the refurbished hall in Castleconnell because the Madden family have been synonymous with it  for generations.

“They are real community people,” said Fr Teehan, who said the Mass, concelebrated by Bishop of Killaloe, Fintan Monahan, priests from the diocese and the Redemptorist Order in Limerick city.

Ahane Camogie Club, and the Care of the Aged committee gave fabulous guards of honour, he said. Both the camogie club and Care of the Aged paid glowing tributes to Dolores on their Facebook pages.

Fr Teehan said Dolores leaves a huge void in the parish that's going to be very difficult to fill. 

“We have identified all the different roles that she held and we have identified different people that are prepared to continue on her work - as a community we will dig deeper in her memory,” said Fr Teehan.

Dolores is sadly missed by her loving mother Kathleen, sister Catherine, brothers Philip and Edward, brothers-in-law Mike and Michael, sister-in-law Susan, nephew Aaron, nieces Ava, Emily and Lucy, aunts, cousins, good neighbours and many friends in St. Vincent’s Day Centre, Tipperary Town and all whose lives she touched through her pastoral ministry.

May she rest in peace.