A little over two years since they learned of his cancer diagnoses, the parishioners and friends of Fr. Pat Moore received the sad news of his death earlier today.
When he broke the news of his condition early in 2015, friends in the twinned Duagh and Lyreacrompane churches organised masses and offered prayers for his return to full health.
Fr. Jack O’Donnell was the celebrant in Lyre and Fr. Tom McMahon and Fr. Paul Dillon did the honours in Duagh.
Huge Crowds
Both masses attracted huge crowds from all corners of the joint parishes and well beyond.
The announcement of Fr. Moore’s illness deeply shocked his parishioners and messages of support poured in from all directions for the Asdee native.
In a blog on the caringbridge.org site, Fr. Moore wrote the following at the time:
“Today I got word of my PET scan appointment in Cork University Hospital next week. I am very aware and held by the Great Wall of support, prayer, good wishes and practical help around me that leaves me wanting for nothing.
Shock of the News
“The shock of getting the news on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes isn’t stuck into me, thankfully. The place I need to move to is Trust – trust in doctors and their care, and trust in he God who is making his presence felt in a very real way around me.”
Only last November 18th he packed the huge ballroom of the Listowel Arms Hotel for the launch of his book Weathering a Storm.
The book details his two-year battle with cancer and includes all the darkness and light on his journey to that point in his full life.
Another Great Saddness
He retired from his Duagh and Lyreacrompane duties as parish priest last year due to his failing health and this came as another great sadness to the parishioners who adored him there.
Fr. Moore also served in parishes in Gneeveguilla, Listowel, Lixnaw and he spent a term in Rome.
It was amongst his Duagh / Lyre friends and parishioners in July 2007 that he celebrated the 25th anniversary of his ordination. He first said mass in St. Brigid’s Church in Duagh and he then led his flock down the middle of the street on a fine summer’s evening to the school hall for a night of celebration.
Jesse James Tavern
He told a little group on the night about his first mass in his home parish in Asdee. The local Jesse James Tavern proprietor had no idea of what kind of a crowd to expect and he ran out of drink early on.
He later came up to the newly ordained, Fr. Pat as said. “Jesus Pat I could do with an ordination every six months or so.”
The Fr. Pat Moore Appreciation Society
Among the performers on the night of his 25th in Duagh was a specially convened group with the working title: The Fr. Pat Moore Appreciation Society.
That in itself summed up the feelings the people of the parish had on the gem of a PP they had been blessed with. May God be good to him.
Funeral arrangements for the late Fr. Pat Moore will be announced later.
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