My friend Eamonn Doyle, who has died aged 78, was a teacher and mentor to refugees. For nearly 20 years he taught English at Asylum Link Merseyside, where he supported people who had fled war, persecution and violence in South America, the Middle East and Africa, helping them to make a fresh start. He had a natural feel for the underdog, which drove his work.
He was born Edward Doyle, son of Margaret (nee Hayden) and Andrew Doyle, farmers in Graiguenamanagh, Co Kilkenny. He attended Colaiste Chiarain school in Bray, Co Wicklow, then in 1960 joined the Congregation of Christian Brothers, taking the religious name Eamonn, and studied for his national teaching qualification at Marino Institute of Education in Dublin. After that he taught at primary schools all over Ireland for 30 years, beginning in Eblana Ave school in Dun Laoghaire in 1964, and then in Dublin, Clare, Wexford and Limerick.
In 1996 he joined a community of Christian Brothers in Grinfield Street, Liverpool, and in 2008 moved to Parr Street, helping out local children in deprived parts of the city and, in afterschool activities, introducing them to art, drawing and pottery.
With an influx of asylum seekers coming into Liverpool at the turn of the century, he responded to the need to help them and joined ALM in 2002, taking on the role of teaching English to help the asylum seekers. He forged a great bond with many of the people he met. They saw him as a father figure who gave them a welcome of incredible warmth and made them feel at home, speaking of the respect he gave them. One said “he changed me as a person” and another that “you understand me because of him”.
Eamonn was a good golfer, a beautiful singer, and an avid reader. He retained a lifelong attachment to his family in Kilkenny and spent time every summer visiting them.
He is survived by his brother, Gerard, and sisters, Nora, Ann and Mary.
