Muireann O’Connell has penned a devastating post about the loss of her father.
The TV presenter’s dad Brendan passed away on Tuesday, following a battle with cancer.
After delivering the eulogy at his funeral on Friday, Muireann shared photos and videos she took with her parents at their home in Kerry last year.
Muireann captioned the post: “This was a week I got to spend with my parents in their beloved Cromane.”
“It was less than 7 months ago and now my dad is gone. Look at him! I don’t quite get how this is real.”
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The Six O’Clock Show host continued: “Thank you so much to everyone who has gotten in contact. I’m so sorry i haven’t been back to you. It’s all a bit overwhelming at the moment.”
“There were so many people I didn’t thank in the eulogy because I have never written one before. I didn’t get to sit down with Brendan’s family and friends to have the chats about him.”
“Dying in a pandemic is s***. Dying at any time is s*** but to everyone who’s lost someone in the last year, I feel you. Losing a parent is something you think about but can’t know the feeling until it happens to you. It is destroying,” she wrote.
“I wish Dad could have had a proper funeral but people have been amazing; I didn’t realise how important food was in all of this but the countless sandwiches, buns, dinners that have been dropped in mean the world.”
“Thank you to everyone, everyone who has helped us and reached out in this turgid time. I didn’t get to thank all of the medical staff who had helped dad in the eulogy because I just couldn’t think about the end of his life a half an hour before we put him in the ground but they are the best of humankind.”
“Thank you, again, to everyone who has been in contact. It means more than I will ever be able to express, to my whole family,” she added.
Muireann announced her father’s death on Wednesday, and described him as “the most wonderful man I have ever known”.
Sharing photos of her beloved dad on Instagram, the Virgin Media star wrote: “When cancer comes to your door, it doesn’t knock politely.”
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“It kicks the door down like it’s a home invader who doesn’t give a damn but Brendan handled it like a guest you want to leave but have to put up with; our lives which had once been soundtracked by the soft tones of radio Kerry was replaced by the perfidious notes of that home invader but he accepted it like the star that he was.”
“The love my parents have is something I aspire to everyday; a true, deep love that knows no bounds.”
“You hear people talk about doctors and nurses all the time and how good they are but my lord, it takes on a whole different level when one of your most precious people gets sick,” she wrote.
“The doctors, nurses, porters and cleaners of UCH Limerick will never know how much they did for us.”
“Brendan loved them for the respect and grace the showed to him in his worst moments.”
“As for the nurses of Milford Hospice, they are truly angels. They enabled us to keep dad at home to die surrounded by his family. They are the most wonderful people. We are heartbroken,” she added.
