Kerry, Dan
July 09, 2013To that success Dan made a major contribution as a player and administrator - a fact of which he was justifiably very proud. Sport was not his only interest. Politics, business, heritage and, most of all, family were important to him.
His death came after a short illness and was much regretted by the old stock of Portlaoise. He was 97. His home was at St John's Square and he was its senior citizen. It could be argued that Dan was only 24 because he was born on February 29, 1916. Tall and as straight as the ash trees from which his beloved Rovers hewed their hurleys, he certainly retained a youthful quality throughout his life.
His soft-spoken voice and gentlemanly manner camouflaged a sharp mind. To underestimate him was to make a major mistake. Dan grew up on the New Road in Portlaoise in tough times. His parents, Michael and Kathleen Kerry, reared 18 surviving children from a total of 23, an almost unimaginable figure nowadays.
Tough times they may have been, but they were also good times. So Dan used to say. The New Road was a recruiting ground for The Rovers, based in Rathleague, just a mile or so out the country across the fields.
Formed in the late 1930s, the club won hurling titles at minor, junior and intermediate grades and contested the senior final in 1951. It also secured a minor football championship. And it supplied some of the stars of the Laois team that contested the All-Ireland hurling final in 1949.
Dan has junior and intermediate medals. Playing days over, he took up refereeing. He was on the County Board and did a term as Vice Chairman of the Juvenile Board. He helped revive The Rovers which finally went out of existence in the late 1960s.
In politics he was an out and out Fine Gaeler and served the party at branch, district and constituency level. His last post was President of the Kevin O'Higgins (Portlaoise) branch. He was a former Chairman of Laois Heritage Society and also spent a period on the Board of Portlaoise Credit Union.
A shrewd businessman, he earned a living as a wool merchant and, later, as a waste paper merchant. He used to quip that he never had to use a shovel or pick. Nor was he ever a drinking man. He was a lifelong member of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association.
Dan had his sorrows. His first wife, Annie (nee Duffy) died at an early age, leaving him with young children. His second wife, Mai (nee Kilkenny) also predeceased him, as did his son Peter and daughter Kay.
Remains were removed from the hospital chapel of rest on Sunday evening, June 23, to SS Peter and Paul's Church, Portlaoise. Fine Gael members, led by Deputy Charles Flanagan and former Senator and Deputy Charlie McDonald, formed a guard of honour.
Following Requiem Mass at 12 noon the next day, the funeral took place to SS Peter and Paul's Cemetery. The large attendance attested to the esteem in which Dan was held.
Mourning him are his daughters Ann, Maura and Brenda; sons Donal, Michael, Declan and John; brothers Maurice and James; sons-in-law and daughters-in-law; grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great great grandchildren; sister-in-law; nephews and nieces, family and friends.
Leinster Express, 9th July 2013 Tweet
