Homily at Funeral Mass of Kian Dawson-Kirk

Derry Journal

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00:00Gene was born on the 14th of December 2007. You always know the year of birth

00:07by those that are into football by that year tag that they get for the rest of

00:11their life. Nearly a Christmas baby, maybe explaining why he had a special bond

00:17with Christmas trees, particularly in school.

00:24His parents reflected that he was their rainbow baby, their blue-eyed boy, his

00:31mammy's golden boy. He went to St. Patrick's Primary School where Abigail

00:39is now. It's nice to see them here with us this morning and then on to St.

00:44Colm's College. Thank you to the guys at the college and the staff for coming as

00:50well. We have our other schools here, we have St. Cecilia's represented as well

00:53and St. Bridget's College. Thank you all for being with us today. In the college

01:03last year he embarked on the Project 21 where he held an exemplary record for

01:09attendance and developed a flair for barbering. And he went with his friend

01:14Jamie, as Jamie collected his GCSE results just this day last week I think,

01:20and was chatting to their year head Mr. Chambers. And Cian, as he told me, was

01:26buzzing, was full of enthusiasm for continuing the journey he was on. He was

01:32in great form. He was looking forward to starting and developing that barbering

01:39career and travelling the world. Cian has been described as kind, loyal, funny,

01:48generous, very expressive, as he talked with his face and hands. And I know we

01:56quote just a wee character. He never judged anyone or their circumstances,

02:02always willing to be a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, or the one to make

02:07you laugh, whatever the situation required he could read it. He genuinely

02:12cared for everyone he met, from every and any walk of life. The ultimate likeable

02:20rogue, always up to mischief, loved the crack and banter. I hear his Granda

02:27laughing from here. If you dared him to do something he was guaranteed to do it.

02:33And Granda Mickey is responsible for one of those stories that's coming up. But

02:39let's go back to the Christmas tree comment. The story that was always going

02:43to come up in the years ahead, and still will, whenever there was a gathering and

02:48Cian would be there of that school gang. As it aired, he reenacted the scene from

02:55Elf and managed to snap the St. Colm's College Christmas tree in half.

03:01There's video evidence circulating around the wake of that. I'm told he

03:08once walked from his granny and Granda Dawson's house to his own house with a

03:12pair of shorts, you know what kind of shorts, on his head because his Granda

03:16Mickey dared him to do it for a fiver. He used to do wee skits in the house and

03:22perform wee shows and dress up with superheroes costumes when younger and

03:28they were all hilarious. Do you remember them Abigail? He was infectious and made

03:35everyone he met laugh. He genuinely took an interest in people. He invested in

03:40conversations and debates and wanted to know everything about that person or

03:46hold the topic in hand. When he got grounded, which was often at one point,

03:52his friends begged his parents to let him out because they missed his humour

03:57and because he brought the crack and the fun to the group. He was empathetic, the

04:04most loving carer, as Fiona reflected and shared, that he helped look after her

04:09while unwell, with everything, helping her in and out of bed, walking up and down

04:15the stairs, in and out of the car, whatever. An understatement might be he

04:22loved Spurs, Derry City Football Club and Don Bosco's. He was his dad's best

04:28buddy, who he loved and adored and idolized and he and his dad had travelled

04:33across to matches across the pond and although Cian didn't get to know, there

04:39was a trip to White Hart Lane coming up on October the 19th this year. He loved

04:46his sister Abigail, but would persecute her like big brothers do, but also was

04:52very overprotective of her as he loved her with every fibre of his being. He got

04:57upset if she was sick or if she was hurt. He loved his grub, a good lasagna or a

05:05steak, loved eating out spending his parents money and he loved his granny

05:11Michelle's toasties. He adored his granny's and his granddad's. He wanted to hear

05:18every story about them and their lives. He loved to get all the knowledge and

05:23information from them. He idolized his friends and rooted for them, rooted for

05:30them all, no matter what they were doing or where in the world and they were his

05:35world. He was so proud of all his mates and in

05:39recent times of Alfie Fryers going to Derby County. He had an amazing circle of

05:46friends and we have seen that over these past few days. The other day as chaplain

05:51to the college we gathered with his year 12 form class and you know just the

05:56stories of which the Christmas tree was central of course and just everybody

06:02say the same thing about him. From school, from football, all around. That's

06:09evident as I say in that phenomenally busy house over these past days and

06:14indeed your attendance here today as well. And so as we gather to remember

06:20Cian, a young man whose love for football was as strong as his love for life. The

06:26beautiful game serves as a reflection of the journey that we all take. Cian played

06:35his last match on Friday evening past and on the football field Cian played

06:41with heart, with determination and a spirit that inspired everyone around him.

06:48Each match is a journey with its own challenges, victories and lessons just

06:55like our journey through life. In football as in life there are moments of

07:01triumph and moments of loss. Sometimes the game doesn't go as we planned or

07:08wanted and we face setbacks that seem insurmountable. But just as a team

07:16rallies together, supports one another and find strength to continue, so too

07:23must we come together now. Leaning on each other, lifting each other up and

07:30finding hope in the promise that Cian's journey hasn't ended. It's just moved to

07:38a new field, one where he's playing the ultimate match in God's eternal stadium.

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