“What made me fall in love with Bird was his zest for life.”
The lifetime of Charlie Bird was celebrated at a service in Dublin’s Mansion House on Thursday, March 14, after the previous journalist handed away earlier within the week.
The broadcasting legend‘s wife Claire Mould addressed mourners with the couple’s beloved canine, Tiger, by her facet and mentioned that it was a “privilege” to take care of him since his prognosis of Motor Neurone Disease in 2021.
“What made me fall in love with Bird was his zest for life. There was never a dull moment when you were with him,” she mentioned.
“He always loved being the centre of attention, loved all the craic. I love you Bird, I’m going to miss you so much.”
She added that she was going to overlook walking the Wicklow hills and consuming pints of Guinness with him and likewise paid tribute to Bird’s daughters, Orla and Neasa, saying she wouldn’t have been in a position to get by way of the previous week with out them.
“I’m going to miss you so much” – Charlie Bird’s spouse pays stunning tribute at service
Charlie Bird’s former RTÉ colleague and shut pal Joe O’Brien additionally spoke on the service, the place he known as him a “national treasure.”
“He was literally a household name; loved and respected throughout the country,” O’Brien mentioned.
“And in his last three years he moved, as Charlie himself said, from being a well-known journalist to being hailed as a heroic and tireless fundraiser and campaigner.”
Bird’s daughter Orla mentioned it was almost unattainable to know the place household life ended and profession began, mentioning that he would typically get a cellphone name and be speeding out the door for a report.
“Today, though, we think back on the family memories,” she added. “The walks every Sunday that we were marched on from as long as I can remember and since we could walk, even before carried on a pouch on dad’s back.
“These Sunday walks were a non-negotiable family activity that continued, much to our horror, into our teenage years.”
Bird’s youngest daughter, Neasa, mentioned that her father’s motor neurone illness prognosis was his “worst fear realised” and mentioned he was “devastated and afraid”.
“Watching Dad grappling with that was heartbreaking, and as we frankly admitted to him on more than one occasion, all the more difficult for the very public way he chose to deal with it,” she mentioned.
“But that was Dad’s way, and as much as we might have wanted to retreat with him to a more private space in the last few years, the tenacity of spirit and the perseverance which saw Dad achieve so much meant that he was always going to do it his way.
“In doing so, he inspired and gave solace to countless others, and that is no small thing. Rather, it is a very great thing.”
Charlie Bird might be buried on Inis Oirr on the Aran Islands, together with the workers he used to climb Croagh Patrick and rosary beads given to him by his pal Daniel O’Donnell.
