Homily at Funeral Mass of Kian Dawson-Kirk
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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.