A grandfather who spent his entire life surrounded by his family, died alone in a care home.
Brendan O’Reilly lost his battle with Covid-19 just a week after testing positive.
His heartbroken grand-daughter Tanya said: “When he died he was alone and had no family or friend there to hold his hand like he has done for many years for all of us.
“He spent his entire life surrounded by family and friends, so the nature of his death is devastating for us.”
Brendan, 91, died last Saturday and was laid to rest at Glasnevin cemetery in Dublin on Tuesday.
Tanya, 33, who lives in Canada, watched his funeral via webcam.
Later, she and her sister Nicole, 22, began a series of walks, thousands of miles apart, to raise funds in his memory for St Vincent De Paul.
Mr O’Reilly, who was from Marino, North Dublin, worked in the Irish Times.
He helped set up the St Vincent de Paul and the credit union in Donnycarney and also founded the local Care Centre for older persons.
Mum-of-two Tanya said: “He gave so much, always rallied around when he knew somebody needed help.
“He hated the thought that anyone would be alone or ever feel lonely.”
Brendan came from a family of 13 and Breda, his wife of 60, died four years ago.
They adopted four children and provided a loving home to Derek, Dorothy, Maria and the late Martin.
Tee-total and a non-smoker, Brendan’s passions were horse racing, photography, the theatre, reading, cards, RTE radio and GAA.
He visited his grandaughter two years ago. Tanya said: “He knew I wanted to show him what it was like. “He had a mind of a 21 year old. He would be trying to help people and we would say ‘No granddad it is time for us to help you’.”
“Then we got the dreaded phone call; he was showing signs of Covid 19, they had to isolate him and a test would be conducted. He deteriorated rapidly and we had very little contact with him.
"Six days later he lost his battle with the dreaded virus.
“When he died he was alone and no family or friend there to hold his hand like he has done for many years for us.
“We want him to be remembered for all the many achievements and accomplishments he had over the years and not as a statistic.”
Tanya and her sister Nicole will walk 5km a day for the next five days in honour of Brendan and to raise money for the St Vincent De Paul.
- If you would like to donate visit the Brendan O’Reilly Go Fund Me page.
