Ennis councillors paid tribute to the late Bishop Willie Walsh this week, remembering him as somebody who was “loved far and wide”.
At the monthly meeting of the Ennis Municipal District councillors expressed their sympathy on the loss of Bishop Walsh last month just weeks after celebrating his 90th birthday.
A native of Roscrea in County Tipperary Bishop Walsh spent his entire priesthood ministering in Ennis, in St Flannan’s College, in the Cathedral Parish, as Bishop of the Diocese of Killaloe and in retirement in recent years.
He was laid to rest on February 24 in the grounds of Ennis Cathedral after a funeral mass which was packed with mourners wishing to say their final goodbyes.
Speaking at the council meeting, Councillor Pat Daly described Bishop Walsh as “my great friend”.
“I had the honour of hurling under him in winning a Munster Championship Dean Ryan in 1973 but I never made his A class. He was an outstanding person, president of Éire Óg, president of Clare GAA, parish priest of Ennis, Bishop of Killaloe. A great character, took his pint of Guinness.
“He was a lovely man. He was born a Tipperary boy and he ended up a great Clare man.”
Councillor Paul Murphy recalled the funeral mass and meeting with a “gang of townies” afterwards.
“To hear the stories and the respect and esteem with which he was held was fantastic. His likes won’t come around too often.”
“We all have personal stories about him,” said Councillor Antoinette Baker Bashua,
“Every time I met the man, he spoke to me in Irish because my two boys went to the gaelcholáiste, and I was just smiling away, thinking, I haven’t a clue what you’re saying. But he just a lovely tone to his voice. I remember one lady said to me years ago, there’s blessing in that man. He was such a gentle soul.”
She added he was “above his time, in the respect that he had for women. He respected our role within the church at a time when we weren’t looked at as important. He was a lovely man, a gentleman, a kind soul.”
Councillor Mary Howard described him as “a gorgeous man, he was loved by everybody”. She recalled how her late father used to go for lunch in the One Mile Inn with Bishop Walsh and others from the parochial house. “They would go up, have lunch for two hour and a cup of tea and a few snack bars and they’d have the whole world put to rights.
The last time she saw him was at a celebration for Clare Haven she said.
“No matter where I met him, it was so lovely, and whoever was with you he engaged with them. And I love that, whether it was a child or an adult, he’d ask who are you, and whatever. He was loved far and wide, and he was just an extraordinary man.”
She added her belief he would be “quite chuffed” to think about all of the people talking “about this Tipperary man who we adopted very much into this county.”
Councillor Tom O’Callaghan said he was a “very sincere” man who “had a knowledge of every topic you could possibly think of, and that’s what made him very different.” “He will be sadly missed,” he said adding the funeral mass was “very special”.
Mayor of Ennis Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy remembered her brothers who went to Flannan’s always talking about how supportive Bishop Walsh was.
Sean Lenihan, acting director of services, added he would like to be associated with the kind wishes and memories, remembering recently meeting him at an event for Éire Óg where they shared a good chat.