{"id":227003,"date":"2026-01-04T14:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T14:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/227003\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T14:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T14:42:08","slug":"tributes-after-death-of-five-time-irelands-strongest-man-champion-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/227003\/","title":{"rendered":"Tributes after death of five-time Ireland\u2019s Strongest Man champion \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Tributes have been paid to Irish strongman Pa O\u2019Dwyer, who died on Saturday aged 40.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/limerick\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/limerick\/\">Limerick<\/a> man held the title of Ireland\u2019s strongest man a record five times, as well as being the second Irishman in history to win the UK\u2019s strongest man.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The father-of-three amassed a large social media following on which he shared supportive videos, often for those sharing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/mental-health\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/mental-health\/\">mental health<\/a> struggles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Retired strongman Eddie Hall described him in an Instagram post as: \u201cA true strongman, an even better human, and one of the funniest characters the world was ever blessed with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Mr Hall set up a GoFundMe in support of the strongman\u2019s family, which has raised more than \u20ac121,000 as of Sunday lunchtime.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cI\u2019m fundraising for Pa O\u2019Dwyer because he deserves to be paid back for all he has given us in this world. He\u2019s made us all laugh. He\u2019s made us all better people in some way through his bigger than life character,\u201d the fundraiser said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Tributes have been paid to Irish strongman Pa O&#x2019;Dwyer. Photograph: Niall Carson\/PA\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GZM4Y2VA6JBCTKN4V5U6P7JJGA.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"1252\"\/>Tributes have been paid to Irish strongman Pa O\u2019Dwyer. Photograph: Niall Carson\/PA <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cThis money is to help pay for his memorial service and to support his beautiful family during this difficult time. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cPa leaves behind three children and a whole family that loved and adored him and leaves a massive hole emotionally and practically &#8230; so let\u2019s help out with the practical part as that\u2019s all we can do right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Pa O'Dwyer from Limerick lifts a log during the UK Strongest Man 2016 heats at Belfast City Hall, Belfast. Photograph: Niall Carson\/PA\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/BOU6TXU6Z5CG5GFJTPR6TCY3OE.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"526\"\/>Pa O&#8217;Dwyer from Limerick lifts a log during the UK Strongest Man 2016 heats at Belfast City Hall, Belfast. Photograph: Niall Carson\/PA <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">In a statement posted on social media, the Irish Strength Association said it was with \u201cgreat sadness\u201d they announced his death.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cPa, also known as the Limerick Lion, became the second Irishman in history to win the UK\u2019s Strongest Man. He was a legend in strength sports in Ireland, winning Ireland\u2019s Strongest Man an unprecedented five times. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cHe went on to represent his beloved Ireland in the World\u2019s Strongest Man,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cPa will be a massive loss to the strength community. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cOur thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends, especially his partner Layna, daughter, and two sons, Sienna, Rocco, and youngest Freddy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-it-article-body__interstitial-link\">[\u00a0<a aria-label=\"Open related story\" class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/sport\/pa-o-dwyer-is-ireland-s-strongest-man-the-six-steaks-a-day-way-1.3715960\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pa O\u2019Dwyer is Ireland\u2019s strongest man \u2013 the six steaks a day wayOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tributes have been paid to Irish strongman Pa O\u2019Dwyer, who died on Saturday aged 40. The Limerick man&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,61,60,1396,410],"class_list":{"0":"post-227003","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-limerick","12":"tag-mental-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}