{"id":232647,"date":"2026-01-07T17:14:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T17:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/232647\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T17:14:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T17:14:08","slug":"limerick-lion-remembered-as-a-gentle-giant-at-funeral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/232647\/","title":{"rendered":"Limerick Lion remembered as a ‘gentle giant’ at funeral"},"content":{"rendered":"

A STRONG man with unwavering generosity<\/a> – \u201ca gentle giant who really cared about people\u201d was remembered this morning (Wednesday, January 7) at the funeral of Limerick Lion – Pa O\u2019Dwyer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pa from Rathkeale and formerly Rooska East, Carrigkerry, passed away suddenly on Saturday last (January 3, 2026). He won the title of Ireland\u2019s Strongest Man five times and in 2018 was the second Irish man ever to claim the UK Strongest Man title.\u00a0<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:\u00a0County Limerick town set for 18 new social homes under council project<\/a><\/p>\n

Eddie Hall known as \u2018The Beast\u2019 and Scottish strong men brothers Luke and Tom Stoltman were among those in the church with many others representing the close knit strong man community.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

His brother Se\u00e1n told a full church at his funeral in Rathkeale: \u201cIn all ways that truly mattered, he remains part of what comes next,\u201d adding that \u201cif love could have saved you, you would have lived forever.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He spoke about how his brother, who earned worldwide acclaim came from humble beginnings \u201cfarming land in Rooska with his father Se\u00e1nie and turning turf on the bog.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe achieved what few could ever dream of,\u201d his brother said, speaking about his dedication, hard work and love for his family.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

PICTURE: BRENDAN GLEESON<\/p>\n

Se\u00e1n spoke to the mourners about how his brother touched so many lives and leaves a legacy behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world does not erase people, it carries them forward in different ways. Love leaves marks that do not fade – every shared moment, every laugh, every story at bedtime, every quiet day together became part of who you are now, nothing can ever take that away. We all carry pieces of him simply because we knew him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people who knew him are changed because of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is still here in the lives he touched and in the love he gave.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In an emotive poem written by Treasa Coleman and read out by Katie, the moment when news of Pa\u2019s death reached the community was described as; \u201cTime stood still for a moment, silence had never been so loud.\u201d<\/p>\n

The poem continued: \u201cPa was a man to be admired, he stood out in every crowd. Strong in body and spirit with a laugh that was infectiously loud.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe offered light to those who struggled and those being bullied, he would always defend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a nation, we grieve your passing – a man many only knew through a screen, yet your name will echo through generations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGrief has shook the ones you love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

PICTURE: BRENDAN GLEESON<\/p>\n

Rathkeale Parish Priest Fr \u00c9amonn Fitzgibbon said that even though he\u2019s a big sports fan, he became familiar with the strong man sport after Pa\u2019s death and that \u201cthese men do things on the verge of the impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that he was struck by the \u201cdiscipline, work, commitment and enthusiasm to his chosen sport.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fr Fitzgibbon described his reach online as being worldwide and how he used his platform to \u201cspeak out about mental health\u201d and how he was a relentless supporter of the underdog.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said that men like Pa who competed in strong man competitions did what seems impossible and have what he calls the God gene.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Mass was concelebrated by Canon James Ambrose and Fr Frank O\u2019Dea with friends of Pa\u2019s – Trevor, Danny and John providing music throughout.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Renditions of Amazing Grace, Nothing Else Matters and Six Feet From the Edge, were some of the songs featured, and the coffin was carried into the church while a bagpiper played.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gifts brought to the altar to represent Pa\u2019s life were; lifting straps, a ukulele, one of his many strong man trophies was brought up by The Beast Eddie Hall, one of his own brand t-shirts and his partner Layna brought up a photograph of herself, Pa and their son Freddy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pa O\u2019Dwyer is survived by his partner Layna, children Sienna, Rocco and Freddy, his parents Lena and Se\u00e1nie, brothers and sisters Siobhan, Kris, Se\u00e1n and Liam, grandparents Se\u00e1n and Chris Kelly, extended family, team mates, sponsors and all who were inspired by his kindness, humour and strength.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the funeral Mass in St Mary\u2019s Church in Rathkeale, he was laid to rest in Monagea cemetery.\u00a0<\/p>\n

May he rest in peace.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A STRONG man with unwavering generosity – \u201ca gentle giant who really cared about people\u201d was remembered this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,1396,39830,112],"class_list":{"0":"post-232647","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-limerick","11":"tag-rathkeale","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232647","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=232647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}