TRAGIC Irishman Philip Leahy, who died earlier this month after getting into difficulty while swimming in the US, has been laid to rest in his native Cork.
Mr Leahy, 22 and originally from Cork, was one of four swimmers rescued from the surf at North Division Street in Ocean City, Maryland, USA, on Wednesday, August 2.
Tragically, Mr Leahy – who was in the US on a Student J1 visa – suffered a cardiac arrest during the rescue and was transported to the Atlantic General Hospital where he later died on August 6.
Mr Leahy, a CIT student and popular GAA player, is survived by his mother, two brothers and extended family.
Speaking at the funeral Mass for Mr Leahy at the Church of the Nativity of Our Lady in his native Ballyhooly, Co. Cork, Father Patrick Scanlan told mourners how the day Mr Leahy was taken to hospital will be 'forever etched' in the minds of his family.
"For you, the Leahy family, Wednesday, August 2 will remain forever etched in your minds, as the day you were informed that Philip had been involved in a tragic accident," Fr Scanlan said. "And so began your frantic preparations, to book flights, and be with him.
"In the course of the next few agonising days by his bedside in the Atlantic General Hospital, your lives were turned upside down. We can only imagine what that experience was like for you Ann, William, and Patrick and his aunt Mary.
"And so you have experienced a plethora of feelings, some of which you may have never felt before, or never felt so intensely: profound shock, numbness, utter disbelief, anger, emptiness and loss."
Philip Leahy was described as a 'hugely popular' character.(Picture: Ballyhooly GAA)'Separated by the Atlantic Ocean'
Fr Scanlan continued: "The extended family, relatives and friends here at home, and our local community, shared your pain, and the utter helplessness of wanting to support you, and yet separated by the Atlantic Ocean.
"We felt numb and at a complete loss as to why this should happen to Philip, and to such a good family.
"An overwhelming sense of compassion for you, was felt by all of us here in Ballyhooly, and much further afield.
"It was that same sense of empathy that brought in excess of 300 parishioners to the local GAA pitch to pray and be together, on the Thursday night, and a similar number to a prayer service in the church last Tuesday night.
"These were beautiful, spontaneous gestures that speak volumes for both the kind of community we have here in Ballyhooly, and the esteem in which you, Ann and your family are held."
Fr Scanlan also said that the community are also grieving for Mr Leahy, and recalled some of his memorable moments such as captaining the local Ballyhooly junior GAA team to its County Final victory last year.
He also spoke of his friends from the GAA, the community, from CIT and the new friends he had made in the US.
"All of us recall a young man full of enthusiasm, who loved life and loved people, was outgoing, friendly and witty, and who was equally comfortable in the company of old people, children, or those of his own age group," said Fr Scanlan.
"And you, his family, you grieve not only for what you have lost, but also for all that could have been – the hopes and the dreams, for his future in sport, in the career he might have chosen, the husband and father he might have become."
During the service, friends and family brought items to the alter to remember Mr Leahy, including his Ballyhooly jersey, photographs of him as captain of the team, his Diploma in Recreation and Leisure from CIT, and his baptismal candle.
The remains of Mr Leahy were later interred at the cemetery adjacent to the church.
