Tributes were paid to former university lecturer and Dominican priest Fr Fergal O'Connor at his funeral Mass in Dublin yesterday.
Fr Larry Collins, vicar provincial of the Dominicans, commented on how many members of the order and laypeople had described Fr O'Connor in recent days as either "great", or "one of the greatest".
Echoing such thoughts, Fr Collins said Fr O'Connor was a skilled communicator, an inspirational teacher and a good philosopher but what really made him great was his Christianity.
"He was no armchair philosopher," the vicar provincial said.
"He was Christian to the core, and a true Dominican." Hundreds of people filed into St Saviour's Church in the north inner city for the Mass.
Among the mourners were many former clients of Sherrard House, a hostel for homeless young women that Fr O'Connor helped to establish in Dublin.
One such client paid tribute to Fr O'Connor at the end of Mass, describing how he had helped her and other women to open their minds to new ways of thinking.
Also in attendance were a large number of Dominicans and priests from the Dublin Diocese, and many former colleagues and students at University College Dublin, where Fr O'Connor taught political philosophy for 30 years.
Fr O'Connor, who was perhaps best known to the public as a regular panellist on The Late Late Show in the 1970s, is survived by his sister Philomena.
