Éanna Rouine. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
ÉANNA Rouine has been remembered as “talented beyond measure” with his death bringing a darkness over North Clare and further afield.
United in grief, thousands of mourners attended Éanna’s reposal and funeral mass over the June Bank Holiday weekend. It was the biggest funeral ever seen in North Clare and one of the largest in the county.
At twenty years of age, Éanna’s time on earth was far too short but long enough to leave a legacy on the football field, through his music and dancing but also the way in which he treated and loved people.
“Where words fail music speaks,” said Fr Des Forde during Sunday’s mass and beautiful music was provided throughout both led by Éanna’s aunt Brid O’Gorman with traditional musicians but also the heavenly voices from the Lahinch choir.
On Saturday, the Rouine and O’Gorman families were in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Lahinch for six hours from after 2pm until 8:30pm as the masses came out in force to pay respect to a beloved figure. The numbers were so vast due to the tragic and sudden nature of his passing but also for the esteem in which the Rouine and O’Gorman families are held stretching far beyond their native Lahinch, Ennistymon and Kilfenora. Families “we’re so proud of,” the funeral mass heard.
Some mourners didn’t make it as far as Lahinch, many could only make it as far as places such as Inagh, pulling over in their cars where they were reduced to tears due to the sadness of Éanna’s death and the feelings it invoked. Others experienced the four seasons as they queued, the standard wait was ninety minutes on Saturday.
Among the queues at different intervals were pockets of personnel from various GAA clubs. Éanna represented Clare at minor and U20 level, he was part of the extended senior panel last season while he won an array of underage titles with Ennistymon before progressing to the club’s senior side where he became a first-choice starter two seasons ago. He won an All-Ireland Freshers Title with UL where he was a second year business student.
Dotted across the county as a showing of solidarity and a form of remembrance has been the Ennistymon flag. It has been visible in Ennis, Kilnamona, Inagh, Moy, Miltown Malbay, Liscannor, Doolin, Lisdoonvarna, Kilshanny and of course Ennistymon, Lahinch and Kilfenora. The black and white flag in its own way saw the people of Clare silently pay homage to Éanna.
Fr Des Forde noted during Sunday’s ninety four minute mass “we shouldn’t be here” and that Éanna should instead be on duty on Lahinch Beach as a lifeguard. This was his third year as a lifeguard with Clare County Council, he had been based in Bishops Quarter and Fanore but was immensely proud to have started in his home patch of Lahinch. The lifeguard helicopter flew above the coffin as it was carried to the church for the first time this weekend, when it departed “the sound of silence fell across the area”. He noted, “darkness has come over North Clare and further afield”.
This sense of silence was also visible in the guard of honour along the Main Street of Lahinch where Éanna’s coffin was carried by his brothers, cousins, uncles and his brothers in Ennistymon jerseys.
After becoming unwell attending a concert in Dublin last Saturday, Éanna was rushed to St James’ Hospital where his condition began to deteriorate. He kept fighting as the days followed, a prayer service was held in Lahinch on Monday attended by close to 200 people in-person and over 600 online but by Tuesday morning he had sadly died. The resulting days leading to an outpouring of sadness and shock.
Sunday’s mass had a packed to capacity church with standing room only indoors and outside while the service was streamed in the nearby Lahinch Coast Hotel where Éanna was a former employee, to accommodate the overflowing crowds.
Dara, Éanna’s older brother who is currently a student at Mary Immaculate College demonstrated how fine an asset he would be to any primary school when he graduates in the near future with a powerful and composed address at the beginning of the mass where he remembered his “beautiful baby brother” and acknowledged the public support “during these unimaginably difficult days”. This ability was also evident when their older brother Eoin delivered a warm reflection towards the end of the service.
As he reflected Dara said sharing a bedroom with Éanna was “a sleepover with my best friend every night”. He said, “To know Éanna was to be loved by him, he had a gentle personality, he was calm and warm to his core. His circle of friends was wide because once you knew Éanna you couldn’t help but be drawn in by his gentle spirit and his infectious laugh. His smile stretched from ear to ear and he touched the lives of so many. Éanna Pádraig born on the 18th August 2004 to our parents John and Caitriona, my older brother Eoin and I. Sharing a bedroom with Éanna growing up I now realise was a sleepover with my best friend every night, that extended into our college days where we shared a house together. When he was younger he called me ‘Dawa’ and I always responded with ‘Yawa’, our own little language, it was always Dara and Éanna, one never complete without the other”.
How Éanna was able to get away with mischief was recalled in the time “he took a skittle off a communion cake and blamed a mouse or ‘a wrat’. His cheeky grin pulled people in, that was was Éanna full of humour, always kind. He was the person who’d make you laugh and then check if you were okay all in the same breath. Éanna loved the simple things a big mug of tea and a packet of rich tea biscuits was heaven to him. His favourite word ‘grand’, everything was just grand, if he was asked how his day at school was Éanna would casually respond ‘grand’ and if he was pressed for more detail he would just shrug his shoulders and say ‘ah shur it was grand what do you want me to say’,”.
Other people always came first with Éanna according to Dara who referenced how he gave their younger sister Brid-Áine a safety teddy to comfort her when he wasn’t around. “Over the past few days we’ve heard so much about the many things he accomplished, a testament to how full his life was, he had an endless enthusiasm for taking part in everything he could do and truthfully there wasn’t enough days in the week to fit it all in. From football fields to music to spending time with his grandparents, Éanna achieved so much in his short twenty years, he gave it his all. Talented beyond measure, Éanna was a committed lifeguard, a gifted footballer fierce on the field, a leader, a teammate, a friend, in the moment he could sit with his accordion and played with a grace that stirred hearts”.
He continued, “Éanna lived passionately, gave generously and he loved people. We mourn the years we won’t spend with him but we are grateful for the time we had, we honour him in our hearts where he lives on strong, joyful and full of fun. Adios amigo, adios my friend the road we have travelled has come to an end, adios compadre let us shed no tears but cherish the memories we shared over the years, rest easy Éanna you were always and always will be truly loved”.
Joining Fr Forde at the altar were Fr Jimmy Buckley, Fr Ned Crosbie, Fr Rob McNamara, Fr Gaynor, Fr Martin McNamara, Fr Tommy Marrinan while seated behind them were a host of Éanna’s friends from Ennistymon, Lahinch and UL. “We’re here because a grain of wheat has fallen into the ground,” Fr Forde stated while pointing out it was “a week of darkness for family, community & everyone. Words cannot bring solace”. He said, “he was supposed to be on duty here yesterday and today, that is how close we are to tragedy”.
Symbols brought before the altar included his Ennistymon jersey and football, by his friends Mark and Seán the field was where “his determination shone through but it is also where friendships were made, he played with skill and always did his best”.
His younger sister Brid-Áine brought up his accordion, remembering the musical moments that still echo in the memory. A laptop and copy presented by Darragh and Conor showed Éanna’s “commitment to learning and dedication to studies”. His lifeguard top showcased his dedication to keeping people while a friendship symbol noted the wide circle of friends made a family photo captured his precious love for family.
Cathal O’Gorman and Anne Vaughan his uncle and aunt gave readings from the altar with prayers of the faithful from his cousins Micheál Vaughan, Seán Rouine, Cillian Rouine, Diarmuid Crowe, uncle Joe Joe Rouine and aunt Michelle O’Gorman.
According to Fr Forde, “everyone found a friend in Éanna, grand is a good word to sum him up as he used himself”. The showing of friendship was evident by his mates who sat for six hours behind the family on Saturday, “They are broken as everyone is, they shouldn’t be here and we shouldn’t be here, Éanna should be on duty”. In his twenty years, Éanna “did so much,” he said.
Fr Forde stated, “the greatness Éanna got he got in his home”. He commended his parents John and Caitriona, “their children are a credit to them and their community, I compliment ye for what ye have done with the gifts ye received from God, all four are talented in music and where words fail music speaks, Éanna and the lads were at a music festival, that is what is still speaking to them”.
Speaking on the family’s behalf, Éanna’s uncle Michael paid a “huge thank you to Éanna’s friends who reacted quickly and came to his assistance when he became unwell, to the driver who brought him to St James’ Hospital, he truly was a Good Samaritan”. Best efforts of the doctors, consultants and nurses who tried “to bring Éanna back to us” were recalled while he admitted “we will never forget the tears shed by the consultant and nurses who cared for Éanna”.
Given the volumes of people who attended Monday’s prayer service at short notice, Michael observed “if prayer could have saved him he’d be alive and well but God had other plans for him”. The input of John Linnane undertakers, those involved in preparing the resting place, streaming service, traffic management, gave positive tributes, added to the service were all acknowledged plus those who travelled from Europe, Canada and Australia. Massive support was also shown by their “second family” the GAA across the country.
Michael added, “Éanna’s young friends and teammates who staged a six hour sit down and lasted every minute, they showed friendship, solidarity and loyalty with us, we won’t forget it”. He added, “we have heard so many with us say they have no words, sometimes silence says it all, the way people put out flags was a silent language of its own”. Goodwill and genuine sympathy has been evident from their friends with an “explosion of generosity and kindness, the outpouring of genuine grief and sadness has been unbelievable”.
“To Éanna, thank you for touching our hearts and our lives, you have truly made a difference, rest in peace, we will remember and love you forever”.
Éanna is survived by his parents Cáitriona and John, his brothers Eoin and Dara, his sister Brid Áine, his grandmother Bridget, his uncles, aunts, cousins from the Rouine and O’Gorman and a wide circle of friends.
