IN MEMORY OF PAT O’BRIEN: PASTOR, THEOLOGIAN, POET

IN MEMORY OF PAT O’BRIEN: PASTOR, THEOLOGIAN, POET

 

There is heart missing from the world,

As soft as God’s,

Arms that drew waif and wretched home.

 

He was an oak in Winter,

Facing down the storms,

A Tilley burning pluckily in gloom

An explosion of cherry-flower.

 

He was life.

He was talk.

He was laughter.

He was song.

 

Pádraig Daly OSA

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6 Comments

  1. Brendan Hoban says:

    Pat O’Brien…

    Thanks Pádraig. Beautiful words that capture the essence of Pat O’Brien. None more so than ‘A Tilley burning pluckily in gloom’. May he rest in peace.

    Reply
  2. Una Agnew says:

    Pat O’Brien…

    A wonderful tribute to Pat. Thank you Pádraig, you get it just right as you always do.

    So much of a priest’s life is hidden.
    He is the sponge that soaks up pain
    The lighthouse keeper who
    trims the lamps when the sun goes down
    And stays the pace when the crowds have gone.

    Pat was the kind of person who found a grain of gold in a heap of dross and gave it away for free. We are the poorer for his loss.

    Reply
  3. Martin Kavanagh SMA says:

    Pat O’Brien…

    Pat to a tee! We were in Maynooth together fadó fadó. Thanks Pádraig.

    Reply
  4. Pádhraic Ó Ciardha says:

    IN MEMORY OF PAT O’BRIEN: PASTOR, THEOLOGIAN, POET

    Má bhí aithne agat ar an bhfear speisialta seo, tuigfidh tú go bhfuil sé beo sa dán álainn seo.

    If you didn’t have the privilege of knowing O’Brien, this other Pádraig poet has captured him in
    a short poem.

    Reply
  5. Gary Hastings says:

    IN MEMORY OF PAT O’BRIEN: PASTOR, THEOLOGIAN, POET

    You have the handle of him, Pádraig. Thank you. Go ndéanaí Dia a mhaith air.

    Reply
  6. JPX Kelly says:

    IN MEMORY OF PAT O’BRIEN: PASTOR, THEOLOGIAN, POET

    Great poetry Pádraig
    A man never to be forgotten.

    Reply

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