There's a line in Percy French's song 'The Mountains of Mourne' that refers to Peter O'Loughlin who was working as a policeman in London:
I met him today while
crossing the Strand,
Sure he stopped the whole
street with one wave of his hand

It ran in to my mind on Wednesday, October 19th last. That day the 'whole street' of Castlelyons, and Bridesbridge too, came to a complete halt. If a stranger had arrived on the scene they would have seen a funeral procession. Because of the size of the crowd and the air of dignified mourning they might have thought we were burying a local dignitary or chieftain. They would have been correct of course, because on that autumn day a proud son of Castlelyons was being laid to rest.

A few days previously the news of Pad Brien's death had come as a huge shock. His full name was Patrick O'Brien, but in truth, if his death notice on the paper had simply said "The bread man in Castlelyons is dead", the countryside of North-East Cork could have known the person involved. Every village and district had its characters in the past. I always feel that a character is a person who has few enemies, countless friends and when one meets such a person your abiding memory afterwards is happy - they cause you to smile.

I can recall Castlelyons' characters that I have known, Billy Leahy, 'old' Dicko Brien and Billy 'The Chieftain' Buckley to name but a few. They were truly legends in their own lifetime, as was Pad Brien. One doesn't have to achieve fame, fortune, athletic prowess or any other form of notoriety to be classed as a real 'character'. One just has to be a very special person and Pad was just that.

Working as a bread deliveryman for many years, Pad encountered life in all its ups and downs. He experienced the full range of human emotions that every family goes through.
He was delivering the daily bread on days of weddings and wakes, births and burials so he knew exactly the way people dealt with life and death. As an employee of Martin's Bakery, Pad was a conveyor of news long before the mobile or even the 'land line' phone became commonplace. He sold bread but his van often transported newspapers, eggs (including duck eggs), bags of blocks and other requisites! He had an airy disposition, accepted that life isn't always a bed of roses so the cheery word, joke and witty comment helped along the way.

Pad's uncle Dicko was born in 1886 and he too loved the story and the yarn, Pad had a lot of his characteristics and was in his element when surrounded by friends, a pint in his hand and a song on his lips. Pad loved every aspect of life in Castlelyons, the pipe band and the GAA were high on his list. In 1996 when his son, Padraig captained the junior hurling team to a long awaited success, Pad was as proud as punch. His wife Maureen and Padraig meant so much to him and he was never slow to express his love for them.

As a musician and raconteur, Pad had few equals. Though he worked alone for years in his bread van, he loved company and the craic. You often hear it said 'ye gave him a great send off' in reference to a funeral and that was certainly applicable to Pad's burial. His requiem Mass was beautiful and Padraig showed the true respect and affection in which his father was held by speaking about him in a lovely way. We shouldered him from Martin's Bakery all the ways to the cemetery. I say 'we' because truly hundreds took their turn to bear the coffin of a dear friend on his last journey. Members of the Castlelyons Pipe Band led the cortege and it was a very poignant yet fitting moment when Padraig played those bagpipes in a special tribute. As the funeral procession wended its way along 'The Minstrel Boy', 'Boolavogue', 'The West's Awake', 'Roddy McCorley' and other stirring tunes filled the autumn air in Castlelyons.

When Pad's mortal remains were placed in the soil of his native place, Betty Quirke gave us a heart-rending, beautiful, haunting rendition of 'The Boys of the County Armagh' - Pad would have loved that. Tears flowed freely as we bade farewell to a man that each and every one that knew him were proud to call a friend.
Sincere and heartfelt sympathy to Maureen, Padraig, Claire, Ellie, Dicko, Donal and all the other relations.

- Courtesy of the Avondhu, 5th January 2012 Tweet

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