Tributes paid last week at funeral for father of three Garda Damien Sharkey
Daniel Ryan
‘A family man, a policeman, a sportsman and most definitely a gentleman’
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Tributes were paid last week at the funeral of Tipperary Garda Damien Sharkey whose untimely and sudden passing occurred at his home in Newtown, just outside of Nenagh on July 20.

His funeral was held on Thursday, July 26 in his local parish at the Church of the Holy Spirt, Youghalarra, Newtown.

It was attended by his loving wife Joan and three daughters Abbey, Polly and Mia as well as his brothers, sisters, extended family and a significant amount of his colleagues from An Garda Síochána.

Damien was a mentor to thousands of Gardaí in his role as lecturer at the Templemore Garda College, his colleagues shouldered his coffin down the aisle as Gardaí in full uniform surrounded the procession on all sides.

Defence Forces chaplain, Fr Declan Shannon was present to lead the funeral mass.

Fr Shannon was the first to pay tribute to Damien beginning by posing the question:

“What is the definition of a gentleman?”

He followed this with the Oxford definition and said “those who knew Damien knew he was the essence of a gentleman.”

Fr Shannon went on to tell some of Damien’s life story starting with the meeting of Damien and his beloved wife Joan. “To say they were smitten was an understatement.

“With Damien based in Longford and Joan in Dublin, the two had a distance to travel but they made it work.

“At age 25, Damien made the decision to join the Gardaí.

“Following a road traffic accident early in his career, where others may have thrown in the towel, Damien reinvented himself, went back to college and took on a role in Templemore at the Garda college and remained in Tipperary ever since.”

He went on to describe Damien’s relationships and his role as a father:

“Damien was deeply proud of his daughters and all of their achievements.

“He was never one to raise his voice. He definitely took the good cop approach to parenting.”

“Our world is a better place because of him and a lesser place now without him.”

The presentation of symbols representing aspects of Damien’s life came later in the mass. A family photo was brought to the alter to represent his love for his family. His daughter Mia brought up a father’s day gift she had made for her dad many years ago to represent his role as a father. His Garda college graduation watch was brought up to represent his career.

A hurly and a golf club were brought up to represent his love for sport. A Star Wars Baby Yoda toy, a Liverpool jersey and a Prince CD were brought up to represent his love for some of his past times.

Following communion, Damien’s older brother John took to the lectern to pay tribute to him.

John firstly thanked, “the emergency services, friends and families who came to support Damien’s family straight away.

“Thank you also to the management and staff of the Garda college who have been so supportive.

“Thank you to each and every person in the community who has gone to such lengths to support Joan and the girls.” He said.

“Damien’s second family were his colleagues at the Garda college. He looked forward to going to work every day.

“Thank you to Joan, Abbey, Polly and Mia for providing Damien with such a loving home.

“He was so proud of each and every one of you.”

John went on to talk about his relationship with his brother: “I’m the first born in our family but I wasn’t alone for long as Damien was born eleven months after me.

“We quickly became a quintessential pair of Irish twins.

“Our two brother were born soon after. The four of us would spend most evenings playing soccer.

“It’s too far back to remember how it started but we all became steadfast Liverpool fans and most conversations would end up with discussions about Liverpool strategies and games.

“Of course, Damien met Joan then and the two became Longford’s answer to ‘Posh and Becks’. They both loved their clothes and were always dressed immaculately.

“I was his best man at his wedding and few week’s later he was the best man at mine.

“Joan and Damien were later blessed with the arrival of their three beautiful daughters Abbey, Polly and Mia.”

John went on to talk about the impact Damien had in his career:

“We estimate that Damien has lectured, trained, mentored or coached over 10,000 garda members presently serving.

A hugely positive influence

“He was a hugely positive influence on Garda trainees, he used to tell each class on their first day in Templemore that they should be proud of their achievement in just obtaining a place at the Garda college, anything else after that was a bonus.

“Damien’s positive influence on the future of policing in Ireland is a wonderful testament to his character.”

John spoke about Damien’s love of Golf but said that “perhaps his greatest sporting achievement was that a man from Longford with no tradition in the sport could come to Tipperary, home of camogie and coach them how to play it.”

John said that he had been going through tributes paid to Damien online and noted that by far the most popular word used to describe Damien was “gentleman”.

“He was many things, a family man, a policeman, a sportsman and most definitely a gentleman.”

John finished his tribute to his brother saying:

“They have achieved success who have lived well, laughed often and loved much.

“That perfectly sums up Damien and Joan’s life in Youghalarra Way.

“To Abbey, Polly and Mia, remember that death leaves heartache that no one can heal but love leaves memories that no one can steal.”

Burial took place after the funeral Mass in Garrykennedy Cemetery, Portroe.