Aongus Curran remembered as loving father and gifted doctor

Prof Aongus Curran, who drowned last weekend on Lough Corrib, was remembered at his funeral today as a loving husband and father who adored his five children; as a gifted, dedicated and pioneering doctor; as a man of reading who loved poetry, and who appreciated the art and beauty within nature.

He was raised in Oughterard, Co Galway, a place to which he remained drawn, despite a career that took him to Canada before returning to Ireland and settling with his wife, Noreen, and their children in Foxrock, Co Dublin.

He retained a special grá for fishing on Corrib. "It was like magic for him to be on the water," his sister Ruth Cunningham said. "He found peace and serenity there and always spoke of his love of the lake, wherever he was."

Prof Curran was there last week, on holiday with Noreen and their children, Tom, Aoife, Matthew, Mary and Aongus Óg, when on Friday he went out alone on the lake to fish. After what was described today as a force seven storm, his boat was later found floating and empty.

A search by local people, the Garda and the Corrib Mask Search and Rescue team led to the discovery, on Saturday, of his body on which there was no lifejacket. He was aged 51.

At his funeral Mass on Thursday, well over 1,000 people filled to overflowing the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Foxrock. They included relatives and friends from Dublin, Galway, Roscommon and Waterford, pupils from Loreto Foxrock girls school, which is attended by Prof and Mrs Curran’s daughters, and dozens of Prof Curran’s medical colleagues.

A graduate of NUI Galway, Prof Curran was a leading head and neck oncology surgeon. He was an ENT consultant at St Vincent’s hospital and the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital in Dublin and was Professor Of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology at UCD.

He was also connected to St James’ Hospital and to the National Children’s Hospital. Earlier in his career, he practised medicine in Toronto.

The chief celebrant at his funeral was Foxrock parish priest Fr Frank Herron, assisted by eight concelebrants – Fr Liam Cuffe, Fr Micheál Donnelly, Fr Eugene Duffy, Fr Conal O’Connell, Fr Brian Cough, Fr Chris Fox, Fr Gerry Byrne and Fr Cormac O’Brolchainon – each representing aspects of his personal and professional life, as well as locations linked to it.

Symbols of his life

To his coffin, bedecked with a spray of white lilies and greenery, family members brought symbols of his life: an oil painting of Lough Corrib, a camera because of his love of photography, a fishing rod, two football shirts (Manchester United and Galway), Jatin Shah's Head and Neck Surgery and Oncology, the selected poems of Patrick Kavanagh, the poetry and plays of Oliver St John Gogarty, and a photograph of his family.

Tragic death was always sudden and plunged people, without warning, into “the nightmare or darkness and confusion”, said Fr Herron.

“In the space of a minute, the world we know can be turned inside out,” he said, leaving people wondering where was God as the tragedy unfolded.

“God is not a safety officer or a lifeguard or a designer of boats . . . He leaves all that stuff to us,” he said, adding that in his faith, God was present during the accident: “He was there when Aongus was lifted gently into eternity.”

Ruth Cunningham crafted a lengthy eulogy which drew on childhood memories, times of happiness and love shared with her brother and their siblings, of the community in Oughterard – its efforts to help as the tragedy unfolded and its embrace of the family since; and of the enormous pride felt within the family at the achievements of a brother, son, husband and father.

“The familiar words that I have heard over the past few days, and before, to describe Aongus are worth repeating now,” she said. “Inspirational, enormously respected, exceptional man, outstanding cancer surgeon, valued teacher, a gentleman, gifted, humble, witty, mimic, generous; he was a story teller, an artist, cook, gardener . . . he loved all sports, a photographer, family man, well read; he loved poetry and literature, and had a well informed opinion on almost everything.”

Noreen Curran spoke briefly – "I have loved every bone in his body and every fibre of his being" – before reading a verse of The Song of Wandering Aengus by William Butler Yeats.

She and her children were the chief mourners, together with Prof Curran’s parents, Bobby and Phil; and siblings. President Michael D Higgins attended with his aide-de-camp, Col Michael Kiernan, and his wife, Sabina Higgins.

Soloist Paul Byrom sang Abide With Me (Lyte and Monk), the psalm I Have Loved You (Joncas), Piè Jesu, Panis Angelicus (Aquinas), Bí 'Íosa im' Chroíse (trad), Ubi Caritas, The Unquiet Grave (trad., Eng), and Nearer My God To Thee (Adams). He was accompanied by flautist Maire Comiskey and organist Goretti Newell.

The readings were from Eccleasiastes (There is a time) and, in Irish, from St Paul's Letter to the Romans (14:17-12).

After the Mass, Prof Curran’s remains were taken for cremation at Mount Jerome in Harold’s Cross.