Mayo bids farewell to ‘guiding light’ Michael Duffy

Crossmolina and Mayo bade a fond farewell this afternoon to well known and accomplished musician Michael Duffy who died on Sunday last, aged 65, after a brief illness.

Fr. Francis Judge, the main celebrant of the Funeral Mass in St. Tiernan’s Church, said Mr. Duffy will always be remembered for his kind and caring ways and musical talent.

He said the Crossmolina community was torn by grief at the loss of a man who was a guiding light, a pillar of strength and protector to those around him.

Fr. Judge spoke of Mr. Duffy’s enduring smile and unwavering love for his wife, Mary, and his family, a love that filled his home with warmth and affection.

As a musician with several bands over the decades including The Merryboys, the D-Team and Concorde, Michael Duffy travelled the length and breadth of Ireland and made 37 trips to America.

His daughters, Rachael and Sarah and sons Fionán, Fearghal and Darragh, all spoke lovingly about their late father at today’s Mass.

They thanked the medical personnel at Beaumont Hospital who had treated their dad in his final illness, local GP Dr. Eleanor Fitzgerald and the entire Crossmolina community for the way they had rallied around and supported their family.

Gifts brought to the altar included Mr. Duffy’s fiddle, an instrument he delighted in playing and at which he was extraordinarily proficient, having self taught himself to play at the age of 12.

Burial took place in Crossmolina Cemetery.