‘Kind soul’ to be laid to rest today

A “kind soul” and one of life’s great characters, the late Sean Brady who was sadly killed in a two-car collision on last Christmas morning, will be laid to rest later today (Wednesday).

Following his removal from McMahon’s Funeral Home on Wednesday morning (January 1), Funeral Mass will take place at the Cathedral of Ss Patrick & Felim in Cavan Town at 11am.

The cortège will then travel to St Brigid’s Cemetery at Killygarry for committal prayers and burial in the Brady family plot.

Mr Brady from Corlurgan tragically died in a road accident, which occurred on the N55 at Clarebane at approximately 12.40am on December 25 last.

The 87-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was removed to Cavan General Hospital for a post mortem.

Four occupants of the second car involved in the collision were all taken to Cavan General Hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

In the wake of the crash gardaí appealed for any witnesses to the collision to come forward.

They are asking any road users who may have dash-cam footage and who were travelling on the N55 between 12:15am and 12:45am to make this footage available to investigators.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Cavan Garda Station on 049-4368800, the Confidential Line on 1800-666-111 or any garda station.

Mr Brady’s death was the third to occur on Cavan’s roads in 2024.

Dylan Costin, of No. 6 Diamond Court, Belturbet, was the passenger in a car involved in a collision with a truck on the N3 at Drumcrave on the Cavan bypass in the early hours of March 11.

Before that, motorcyclist and dad-of-four Gary Murphy (48) from Ballinagh, was travelling home from Cavan Town when the motorbike he was travelling on was involved in a collision with a second vehicle on the N55 at Corlurgan.

In the days up to his death Mr Brady had himself attended a variety of local functions, including at the local John Sullivan home for the elderly.

He was a member of Cavan Positive Age and a regular at the Castlemanor Community Centre also.

His death notice reads: ‘Sean will be very sadly missed and fondly remembered by all his neighbours, his many good friends and all the people who came to know Sean as he travelled around home and Cavan Town in his car.’

He was pre-deceased by his wife Mary.

Musician Martin Donohoe, paid tribute to Mr Brady’s “kind soul” who was often the “first in and last to leave” at traditional music events taking place across the county. “He was loved by everybody.”

Mr Brady had a “couple of songs” in his own repertoire, remembers Martin.

“He loved songs and he loved singing. The last event we had, just before Christmas, Benny Maloney sang alongside him. He had a great interest in the old songs, and the whole Ulster region. That tradition of sean-nós singing. He was a quiet humble man. He didn’t force it on anybody. But when he saw young talent coming through he wanted to see that encouraged and nurtured. Just a great character.”

It has been a tough year for the close-knit traditional music community in Cavan who also counted among those lost over the past 12 months, the late Conor Maguire, who passed away peacefully at Cavan General Hospital, September 8.

Mr Maguire was a familiar character on the streets of Cavan.

“[Mr Brady] would’ve driven around Conor... It’s an awful shock, because in our world of music, song and dance, you have a generation coming through but, when the characters that are there are gone, they’re not always replaced.

“People like Séan, and Conor, or the likes of Séamus Fay, another great man for the music, when they’re gone they’re gone and it does leave a void. The characters of our culture are so important, for the appreciation they had, and the love of a shared interest.

“They’ve great memories left behind them because they gave of themselves and never hurt anybody, these gentle spirits.”