Burke, Sean
July 09, 2013The communities of Knock and Kiltimagh rallied around to pay poignant tributes to Sean Burke (30) whose sudden death in England last week shocked family and friends at home and in the London region.
Sean- died from injuries sustained in a fall from a bicycle towards the end of a 100 mile cycle with some friends. He had clocked 99.1 miles at the time of the accident.
The 30 year-old accountant had been living in London for a number of years. He was one of a family of five born to Tom and Ann (nee Lavin) Burke,
Cloondace, Knock. A past pupil of Knock NS and St Louis Secondary School, he later graduated from UCD.
Sean had a great love for sport and recreational activities. He played midfield on the Mayo U 16 team in the Ted Webb Cup series around 14 years ago. His brother Peter was the Mayo senior goalie for a number of seasons and both of team played senior club football with Kiltimagh.
The hearts of all went all to his parents Tom and Ann, brothers Peter and Seamus, sisters Elaine and Caroline, and to his partner Anna-Louise Costello from Kiltimagh, and to the extended family circle.
Large crowds attended the ceremonies in the family home in Cloondace and the removal from the Marian Funeral Home to Knock Church. The church was packed to capacity for the concelebrated Requiem Mass on Friday. Members of Kiltimagh GAA Club formed a guard of honour as a tribute to their departed friend.
The chief celebrant was Fr Richard Gibbons, PP, who told the congregation that Sean was an all-rounder. "He was also deeply appreciative of the close family ties that exist in the Burke family circle. His work as an accountant saw him land a major job in London where he recently secured further promotion. This work sometimes took him abroad and he spent four months in Brazil at one stage. He had a great circle of friends.
"Sean and Anna Louise were the quintessential childhood sweethearts. They met on the set of The Sound of Music in St Louis, Kiltimagh and something clicked there and then. I am told it was Sean's first time to sing on stage.... and also his last!
"He reflected the goodness life itself and the expectations that are there within us all.'
In a moving tribute at the end of the Mass,.his sister Elaine thanked the many people: their kindness and prayers the past few days.
"Last Sunday night our Iives changed when our precious Sean was taken away from us To his friends he was Burkey but to us he was Seanie - our Gentle Giant. We are bless to have had 30 wonderful years with him.
"He achieved so much in his short time. He worked very hard in school and college and was very successful in his career and recently had received promotion at work.
"Sport was a major part of Sean's life. He received many awards throughout his football career. This year Sean took up cycling as due to hip surgery he could no longer play foot- ball.
"He met and fell in love with his beautiful Anna-Louise and spent the past 13 years with her. I know Sean is looking down on you and he'll give you the this and to accept God's choice to have Sean as our Guardian Angel. Anna-Louise, we'll take good care of you and you'll always be part of our family.
"One of Sean's friends Stephen said how Sean ticked all the right boxes - he was loyal, honest, hard-working, good looking, smart, funny, talented and so much more. You asked for nothing and gave us everything.
"We all have precious memories of Sean - whether it be sliding down the hill in a 10-10-20 bag or his moves on the dance floor but I think what will remain with each and every one of us was his wonderful smile.
"I would like to express our gratitude to our sister Caroline, Michael Carty and all who worked so hard in London to make sure we got Sean home as quickly as possible. We'll never forget it.
"Sean, please take care of us all and pray that we'll be strong enough to get through this dark time. The love that Mom and Dad have sown in all our hearts will be the foundation that will help us to recover. My one promise to you Sean is we will never ever forget you and we'll always love you. Goodbye Seanie."
Courtesy of The Mayo News Tweet
