Irish soldier Private Sean Rooney remembered as a 'kind and loving' hero

The funeral of Private Seán Rooney who was killed while on peacekeeping duty in the Lebanon has taken place at The Church of the Holy Family in Dundalk this morning. 

After the service, people lined the streets as Pte Seán Rooney made his final journey to Aiken Barrack where the young soldier was based.

The Defence Forces formed a guard of honour as the hearse made its way into the barracks where the tricolour flew at half mast.

Hundreds stood, with children holding Irish flags, to bid a final farewell and show their respect for the hero soldier.

And as Pte Rooney left Aiken Barrack for the last time the gathered crowd solemnly clapped as his hearse left Dundalk to travel to Donegal for his burial.

The 24 year old’s coffin was draped in both Irish and UN flags as it was taken from the house of his grandparents Eugene and Rachel across to the church for funeral mass this morning. 

Parish Priest Derek Ryan opened by addressing the family and  acknowledging that: “Today is the most difficult of days” and how “no one in this community would ever have thought that your walk across Hoey’s Lane to come to your beloved church would be such a difficult walk.”

Fr Ryan spoke of how rooted Dundalk was in the tradition of peacekeeping, and how Private Rooney’s death had:

“[Pierced] the heart of his family and this close-hearted community, and even the town of Dundalk.”

“It’s not talked about a lot but families who have sons and daughters serving abroad, they know the risks and dangers that are always present in regions of conflict.

“Peacekeeping will always be a risky business. We call them peacekeeping missions but sometimes they can be far from peaceful.”

He further spoke of meeting Private Rooney over a year ago before his first tour in Lebanon and being struck by his “maturity” and the love he had for his family and fiancee.

Referring to Private Rooney’s mother he said:

“Natasha said recently that it was an honour to be his mother. There was that unique bond between mum, dad and son. Natasha, my sense is that as the years progressed, you both became best friends.”

In a statement from Private Rooney’s fiancee Holly, read by Fr Ryan, she said:

“Growing up I never understood why people called their partner the other half. As my relationship with Sean advanced it became clear, Sean is not only my other half, he’s my better half.

“I can say for certain that he would have been a fantastic husband and an even better father. His presence immediately made me feel at ease. And he would always protect me and make me feel safe.

“He was an extremely driven person. He knew what he wanted in life. He loved his job in the army. He loved his running and he always looked after himself.

“He admired and adored his mother, his dad, and especially Robyn. Sean always encouraged me in my work on my studies and everything in life. He believed I could do anything. He made me feel that I could do anything. And he ensured to always tell me how proud he was of everything I achieved in life.

“And finally, I am absolutely heartbroken that our life together has been cut short, but I feel extremely lucky to have experienced that person and love. Some people don’t ever have the opportunity to love and be loved in the way that Sean and I did, so I feel absolutely honoured that I have been afforded three wonderful years with him.”

At the end of the funeral Private Rooney’s mother Natasha spoke of what a “wonderful and kind and loving” person her son was and how proud she was of him.

“I couldn’t put into words, there’s no words that are strong enough, there’s no words great enough, to express the love that I had for Seán and how proud I am of Seán.

“Seán was placed in my arms when I was 16 years old and he gave me purpose.

“I wanted to do better for Seán, I wanted to finish school for Seán, I wanted to go on to third level education for Seán, to buy my house for Seán and I wanted Seán to have a mother he could be proud of. 

“In his life he gave me purpose, in his death I will find new purpose.”

She continued: 

“I could stand here all day and tell you all the different nice things Seán has done for people.

“My pride as I look around at everybody here today for Seán, not just because of this, not because he is a national hero…” at this point the church broke into applause.

She continued: “I am more proud of the kind and loving person that Seán was.

“I will love you forever son and I cannot wait to be reunited with you in heaven,” she concluded, to a standing ovation.

The funeral was attended by President Michael D Higgins, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tanaiste Micheal Martin and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, Minister Simon Coveney and Minister Eamon Ryan.

As the coffin was carried out members of Private Rooney’s 27th Infantry Battalion formed a guard of honour outside the church.