Tribute paid to the late Br Oliver Deane
The Lasallian Family across the District was saddened to hear about the passing of Brother Oliver Deane who died on Saturday May 1st. The following tribute was paid at his funeral service by Br. Kevin McEvoy.
Brother Oliver Deane (1928 – 2021)
“Nothing can come between us and the love of Christ.” (Romans, 8:35)
We gather here today to celebrate the life of Brother Oliver Deane, born on May 3rd 1928 and who shed his ‘mortal coil’ on Saturday, May 1st, the feast of St Joseph The Worker, so appropriate for a man who had given his long and fruitful life in the service of Christian education of the young as a De La Salle Brother.
On behalf of our Lasallian community, I offer our sincerest condolences to Brother Oliver’s immediate and extended family, especially to his sister Eileen here among us today, his brother Fr Joe in Texas, his niece Mary, nephew Pat, cousins (JJ and Maureen Farrell from Cork here present), nephew-in-law John, grandnieces, relatives, friends, past pupils, staff in Miguel House and his confreres, many of whom would love to be here today but cannot, because of the Covid restrictions currently in place.
On this very day, 93 years ago in 1928, Thomas Deane was born to Paddy and Mary (neé Farrell from Dooagh) Deane in Goulane or Gabhlán, Castlegregory, Co Kerry. He was the fifth of nine children and it was a testament to the deep faith of the family and the spirit of the time that five of the family were to commit their lives to the service of the Church: the first-born, Brother Timothy joined the St John of God Brothers, Fr Patrick became a Salesian priest, Nora a Poor Clare Sister and Fr Joe a diocesan priest who is still living in Texas. Oliver was immensely proud of his home place in Goulane nestled between lush and sandy Maharees and the steep inclines of the Beenoskee Mountain on the beautiful Dingle peninsula. The young Tom often climbed the 826m Beenoskee mountain; it was the kind of landscape that produced a community strong and resilient in every respect.
Tom was recruited to the De La Salle Brothers by Brother Oliver Rice who was also from the locality and in August 1943 he came to the juniorate here in Castletown where he was to spend just one year before he moved across the yard to begin his spiritual year as a novice, taking the name Brother Oliver Canice. Oliver often spoke of his regret at not having a second year in the juniorate as his command of Latin in particular was pretty basic as he started his novitiate which ended on September 8th 1945 when he made his first vows as a De La Salle Brother. He was to spend the next ten years in Faithlegg both as a student and a teacher. Brother Oliver had not yet got his Higher Diploma in Education when he was asked to join the teaching staff in Faithlegg. Brother Finbarr Murphy picks up the narrative:
“Brother Oliver undertook that daunting task with a lot of goodwill and patience. New to secondary level teaching, we managed to get through the Romantic Poets, the intrigues of some royal houses in Europe... but there remained the Latin. For this writer (Bro Finbarr that is) the Latin book “De Bello Gallico” proved to be double Dutch! But there were other issues. Of much greater importance in most schools is the so-called Hidden Curriculum which comprises the ethos of the educational institution, and above all else, teacher-student relationships. In this latter area Br Oliver scored an A-plus. He engaged us in interesting conversations in all manner of topics when engaged in 'manual labour' sessions e.g. 'in the Garden' on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. It didn't stop there. He put the finishing touches to the roughly-cut hurleys to suit the stature of individual 'scholastics'. To Oliver that was really a labour of love which entailed skilled use of the plane and a lot sand-papering.”
During his time in University College Dublin where he studied Irish and Latin, he spent seven years working in Mallow, years that he often looked back on with great fondness. He loved the freedom and the spaciousness of Mallow where he immersed himself in just about everything. Brother Christopher Kelleher remembers in particular:
“His kindness, warmth and helpfulness as a young Brother. I also remember his warm welcome to my parents and siblings when they visited me in those years. His commitment to us from rising at 6.30am until we retired at 10pm. What struck me most was that he seemed to be always on duty 24/7: teaching, study supervision, games, walks in the countryside, swimming in the Blackwater, manual labour etc. His handwriting on the blackboard was meticulous, a work of art and set a very high standard.”
Brother Tom O’Donoghue continued in a similar vein:
“He was an inspired teacher and gifted storyteller, starting each lesson with a story that captivated the class and had us spellbound waiting for the denouement. While telling a story he would toss the chalk in the air and never fail to catch it, while we prayed fervently that his aerobatic skills would encounter some mishap or mid-air turbulence or miraculously defy the laws of gravity but we were always disappointed as “Ollie” chalked up another success!”
Brother Damien Kellegher also remembers his days in Mallow and especially Oliver’s way of dealing with the wayward misbehaviour of some of his fellow-juniors:
“One Saturday evening as we were out walking the roads, some of the students in front of the line and away from the watchful eyes of Brother Oliver decided to have a smoke. Where they got their cigarettes is another story! When it was time for the group to turn back, Brother Oliver asked the smokers to drop their Woodbines in heap on the road where he set them alight much to the chagrin of the culprits. He told the group that he would not inform the authorities of their misbehaviour – a promise he kept and for which we were truly grateful.”
By the way, Damien is also at pains to state that he was not among the culprits that day!
Following a brief sabbatical in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1965, Brother Oliver was transferred to Loughrea, Co Galway. He loved his time in Loughrea where he got involved in coaching hurling in a big way. He remembers with great pride the club winning the junior and senior county finals in the same year. He also remembered the day of one of the county finals as he was busy in his workshop putting bands on some hurleys. For some unknown reason the punch he normally used for the task could not be found so he used a 6” nail to make the holes in the bands. While he was doing so, a piece of metal hit him in the eye.
Br Oliver Deane, Fr Pat, Brother Tim, Fr Joe, Pat Deane (nephew); Front: Jack Deane, Mary Deane (mother) Mickey Deane
He proceeded to the match, but following a visit to an eye specialist in Dublin a few days later he was informed that a piece of metal had pierced the iris of one of his eyes and that we would not regain any vision in that eye. It was a painful moment for Oliver and yet he often used to tell the joke against himself following that incident that the Brothers would often ask him to ‘keep an eye’ on the lads during supervision. He also remembers telling the students that if they won the Connacht title he would take them on a trip to Dublin. True to his word, when they won, he took them to Ballyfermot where they hammered the unfortunate local team by 8-2 to 0-1. Oliver was a great believer in ground hurling – something we don’t hear too much of these days.
I was fortunate to live in community with Brother Oliver in Coláiste Íosagáin, Ballyvourney in the 1980s. He spent 13 years working there during which time he built up many strong friendships. Coláiste Íosagáin was a kind of home-coming for him as most of the students were from Cork and his native Kerry and, of course, it was also known for its Gaelic football prowess.
Since Oliver’s passing on Saturday, some past pupils have been in touch with me and what they remember most, apart from his ‘ministry of the corridor’, was the ‘ministry of the tuck shop’. Former student, Gearóid Ó Caoimh reminded me that Oliver kept a small, well-stocked tuck-shop in the basement where the students would gather during their leisure time to play table tennis. He always knew what they students loved and ensured that the shop was always well-stocked. They remembered how he was kind to everyone and encouraged them to share whatever they bought. Oliver himself would often give a few extra sweets to the students and always looked out for the students for whom money would have been a scarce commodity and did his best to ensure that they felt comfortable and as good as anyone else in his presence. They also remember him as an early riser, who walked the grounds and corridors with a brush in hand keeping the place spotlessly clean.
Diarmuid Ó Dálaigh summed him up nicely when he wrote: “He lived his vocation quietly as a kind Christian devoting all his time and energy to work and prayer.”
Peter Keane, the current Kerry county football manager recalled his favourite memory of Brother Oliver:
“When I went to Coláiste Íosagáin in 1984 I remember playing in an U-14½ competition in Cork. I managed to score two “fifty” frees – now called forty-fives – which would have been quite an accomplishment for a fourteen year old. Word got back to the Coláiste about what had happened and the next time I visited the tuck-shop, Brother Oliver was full of pride with my achievement. He knew my favourite treat at that time was a Chomp chocolate bar, so he reached into the Chomp box and handed me a Chomp bar saying, “If you keep scoring like that, Peadar, you can be guaranteed a steady supply of Chomp bars in this place.” “You know,” Peter concluded, “at that moment I felt like a true professional!”
In the condolences section of the online obituaries website RIP.ie I read the following from Mickey Ned O’Suullivan, the erstwhile Kerry player and manager who was both a student and staff member in Coláiste Íosagáin: “Sincere Sympathy to the Deane Family and the De La Salle Community on the sad passing of Br Oliver! It was an honour and a privilege to have served on the same staff with him in Coláiste Íosagáin for thirteen years. Duine uasal ab ea é. May he rest in peace!”
And James Maunsell wrote: “Comhbhrón ó chroí le Muintir Deane uile ar bhás brónach Br Oliver. D’fhreastail mé mar dhalta lán-chónaithe i gColáiste Iosagáin ó 1981 go 1986 agus Bhain mé an-taitneamh as scéalaíocht Br Oliver. Go dtugadh Dia leaba i measc na naomh dó.”
And An tAthair Dónal Ó Briain who was the séiplíneach or chaplain in Íosagáin in the Eighties wrote: “Déanam comhbhrón ó chroí le clann an Bhráthair Oilibhéar agus a chomh-bhráithreacha i gCríost. Bhí sé de phribhléid agam, mar shagart paróiste Bhaile Mhuirne is Cúil Aodha, go rabhas mar sheiplíneach ar Cholaiste Íosagáin sular dúnadh é.” Scríobh Tomás Breathnach a bhí ar an bhfoireann teagaisc I gColáiste Íosagáin faoi: “Duine uasal é, i gcónaí gnóthach timpeall an choláiste agus toilteanach cabhair a thairiscint. Bhaineamar an-taitneamh as na tuairiscí cruinne a scríobh sé agus a chuir sé ar chlár fógraí – cé nár fhreastail sé ar na cluichí!”
There are so many stories about Oliver that it would be impossible to do justice to him in the short time allowed here. Eileen remembers how they loved when Tom came home on holidays and that there would always be a gathering of neighbours in the home place where stories were told and re-told. She remembers the story also told by Brother Jarlath Forde of a game played by Oliver for his home club in 1959 when he was stationed in Mallow. Special permissions were got to enable him to play in that fixture. He played centre-half back and scored two long-range points that day – he was known for his prodigious drop-kicking skills. The story of his scoring feats that day grew each year with the retelling and the last time Oliver heard the story told he was supposed to have scored 1-4 in that game. Oliver loved telling and listening to such stories.
Brother Martin Curran wrote:
“Oliver spent many years in Castletown between the Monastery community and Miguel House. While in good health he enjoyed manual labour and took a special interest in keeping the high field path in good condition. It is said that a hoe had to be beaten beyond shape and use before he would replace it. Oliver was a very gentle person who always saw the funny side of things; he could always sum up a situation with a funny comment and loved to see the joke in any situation. He was a man who went about his work in a quiet manner with little fuss or show. He liked to keep his own company in Castletown and was a great Man United fan and enjoyed watching them on television. He was very faithful to his religious commitments and for a number of years helped out in the Castletown parish as sacristan and Eucharistic minister. He had a strong devotion to Our Lady and it was fitting that he died on May 1st, the month dedicated to Mary and also the feast day of St Joseph the Worker whom St John Baptist de La Salle chose as patron and protector of the Institute.”
I would like to record on behalf of all our Brothers our sincere gratitude to a number of people here in Castletown. Brother Oliver spent 25 years of his life in the Monastery community in Castletown, the last five years of which were spent in a wheelchair. A big thanks to Brother Stephen and community and to Paula, the two Margarets, Rita, Nóirín, Catherine – and, in latter years, Linda and PJ – for their wonderful care and support of him over those years. They have lots of stories to tell about Oliver and we won’t even mention to Miguel House (as was his request) the time he fell out of his wheelchair and had to be picked up by Linda!
Míle buíochas also to Brother Martin Curran and Brother David O’Riordan and to the manager of Miguel House, Teresa Cleere, and all the staff of the centre for their wonderful care of Brother Oliver when he was most in need. A quote from a book by Ram Dass sums up their work very aptly: “We’re all just walking each other home,” and that’s precisely what all the staff of Miguel House do to a very high degree. Thanks also to Dr Paddy O’Dwyer for his dedication and commitment to Brother Oliver and the Brothers over the years; it’s really appreciated. And to Fr Joe our celebrant here for the human and spiritual solace he offered to him latterly, and to Fr Walt Cooke and Fr Willie Hennessy concelebrating here today.
Death has been described as the final frontier, the final coming home to our deepest soul, our loving God and our loved ones who have always known and loved us completely since we first began our life-journey on earth. In that view, death is no big deal: it is not to be feared. It’s like taking off a tight shoe that no longer fits, that no longer serves its purpose. And the message for us is clear too: when we lose the fear of death, we gain a love for life. And on this day when Oliver would have celebrated his 93rd birthday, he celebrates it with his heavenly cohort who have loved him since the beginning of time. And the words of today’s Gospel, “I have gone to prepare a place for you,” could also be Oliver’s prayer for and promise to us so that when it’s our time to discard our own tight shoes, we may do so with great love and without fear.
Brother Jarlath Forde reminded me last night that the only epitaph that should be written on a person’s grave is “S/he was kind”. And that probably best sums up the Tom or the Oliver we all knew and loved.
“In iothlainn Dé go dtugtar sinn” – May we be taken to God’s granary or haggart. A Oilibhéir dhil, ar dheis Dé go raibh d’anam cineálta, cneasta, uasal.
Brother Kevin McEvoy
