Letterkenny photographer and musician Dermot Donohoe will be remembered as a man full of character and subtle colour who created precious memories for others, mourners were told at his Funeral Mass today.
Family and friends gathered in large numbers at St Eunan’s Cathedral this morning to say farewell to Dermot, a well-known creative businessman, who passed last Saturday following an illness bravely borne.
Music by Dermot’s bandmates, the Delta Boys, was the foundation of a Mass that celebrated the legacy he leaves behind through his various passions.
“Much of Dermot’s life was caught between film and microphone, between the click of the camera and strum of the bass notes,” said Monsignor Kevin Gillespie.
“They are two mediums that gave expression to his artistic impulses and inner disposition, full of character and subtle colour, nothing brash even when drama was required.
“It is hard to know whether his photography or his music will win out as his legacy here below, although both were appreciated by perhaps very different sets of people. Perhaps the children he photographed so effectively will remember him for the colour of his music in his jazz and blues notes, while their parents and their own children will treasure the photographs and their delicate hues that capture that person, first as a child and then as a parent.”
At home, Mgr Gillespie said Dermot will be remembered as a doting grandfather whose relationship with his little grandson Harry captured what he was as a man – “Full of fun, able to get into the other’s interests and joys, loving the company of his little grandson and teaching him adventure and freedom and responsibility.”
For clients at his photo studio, Dermot used patience and attention to detail to beautifully capture cherished moments that are displayed in homes all across the county. He specialised in wedding and family portraiture and had a special playful way of coaxing even the most stubborn children to look his way.
“I’m sure many times he saw the stories behind the photograph,” Mgr Gillespie said.
“How many of his prints capture a moment that was to become, for so many families, all too precious?”
Dermot’s perfectionism also made him a great organiser, and he is credited for the success of the Blues festival in Dunfanaghy and the launch of the Letterkenny Jazz and Blues Festival, of which he was a founding committee member.
Condolences have been expressed from far and wide to Dermot’s wife Rosemarie, daughter Eva, sons Rory, Julian and Christopher, daughter in law Amanda, son in Law, Joe, grandson Harry, sister, brothers, extended family, neighbours and many friends following his sad passing this week.
A tribute from the Letterkenny Blues and Roots Festival remember him as a “A great man, a blues fanatic, a dynamic performer and with an energy unsurpassed in the Irish Blues scene today.”
May he Rest in Peace
