Former Fianna Fáil MEP and senator Brian Crowley was a man of such resilience that he defied the odds and lived until the age of 61, his funeral Mass has heard.
Mr Crowley of Dunmanway Road, Bandon in Co Cork, died on January 23rd last at Cork University Hospital (CUH) following a lengthy illness.
A wheelchair user, Mr Crowley was paralysed from the waist down when he fell off a building as a teenager. He endured further blows in life when his father Flor, who was a Fianna Fáil TD in west Cork, died at the age of just 62 in 1997. Mr Crowley also lost his brother Flor jnr (42) in 2009 a car crash.
His brother Niall told mourners at noon Mass in St Patrick’s Church in Bandon that the life of his brother “could be summed up in the four Fs – family, friends, faith and fun”.
Mourners follow the coffin outside the church on Monday. Photograph: Michael Mac Sweeney/Provision
He emphasised that Brian was always of the view he was the lucky one because people could see his disability.
Mr Crowley said it was “hugely important” to share with mourners that, following his life-changing accident, Brian was not expected to have a long life.
“When our mam and dad met the consultants in Dún Laoghaire soon after Brian’s accident, they were told that Brian would not live beyond 25 years of age. Reaching nearly 62 years of age, he certainly overcame that one.”
Brian Crowley overcame many challenges in life and his ability to handle adversity was a rare quality that he possessed, his funeral was told.
The way his mother and father handled his accident when he was 16 no doubt had a major influence on how Brian would handle the trials and tribulations that life throws up, Niall Crowley said.
Mr Crowley said that Brian took great pleasure in meeting and talking to “ordinary people”.
Fianna Fáil TD Christopher O’Sullivan TD and Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan TD at the service. Photograph: Michael Mac Sweeney/Provision
“Brian did things quietly and under the radar. He always taught us to be cognisant of when people need help – and that you should always need to be there to help them.”
He said that his brother had a great sense of humour and adored music and meeting friends.
“Brian has an absolutely huge circle of friends – the diversity of friendship groups epitomised Brian as such an open and engaging person. His friends from school, Bandon, politics and music reflected his huge range of connections.”
Mr Crowley paid tribute to staff at CUH for their incredible care of his brother.
Meanwhile, Fr John Newman extended his deepest sympathy to Brian’s mother Sally, his sisters Maeve, Deirdre and Fiona, and his brother Niall following their loss.
Fr Newman welcomed to the Mass, among others, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Comdt Deirdre Newell, aide de camp of President Catherine Connolly,
He noted that Brian was “very charming” from that start of his life and exuded a “natural cheerfulness, and enthusiasm”.
He stated that Brian endured “two further body blows” with the loss of his father and brother.
Describing Brian as an “exemplary figure in public life” he added that he had continued to work from his hospital bed when his health deteriorated.
“He never complained. He carried his suffering internally.”
Other attendees at the Mass included Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy, Government Chief Whip Mary Butler, Cathaoirleach Senator Mark Daly, former Fianna Fáil ministers Eamon Ó Cuiv and Michael Moynihan, Minister of State Christopher O’Sullivan, former Fianna Fáil TD John Dennehy, Cllr Tony Fitzgerald deputising for Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Fergal Dennehy and Cllr Ian Doyle deputising for Mayor of the County of Cork, Mary Linehan Foley. A large number of councillors were also in attendance.
The Crowley family asked that mourners make donations to St Vincent de Paul in lieu of flowers. After the Mass, Mr Crowley was laid to rest in the adjoining cemetery.
Mr Crowley was elected to the European Parliament on five occasions and topped the poll in 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014. He was also a senator from 1993 until 1994. He retired from politics due to illness in 2019.