Popular Limerick engineer's death in Canadian road tragedy sparks tributes

A LIMERICK-BORN engineer who lost his life in a tragic road incident in Canada has been remembered by his family as “their solid rock in good times and bad”.

Donal P Joyce died aged 64 following a collision in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The incident took place in the early hours of Monday, February 5.

Although he had lived in North America for 42 years, Donal - or Daniel as he was known to Canadian friends - has relatives here, and made regular visits back to Shannonside.

Born and raised in Ballyhahill, Donal grew up on the family’s farm in the area and is the son of the late Arty and Eileen Joyce.

He went to national school in St Mary’s in the village.

Following this, he moved onto secondary education at St Munchin's College in Corbally, before attending University College Cork.

From here he graduated in 1982 with a degree in civil engineering.

From here, he moved to Canada, where he began what his family have described as a “lifelong passion” for the country and what it had to offer.

He loved ice hockey, and baseball, a big fan of the Toronto Bluejays team.

One of his pals in Hamilton described him as an “angel” and “one of a kind”.

Having climbed the ladder in the engineering world, Donal eventually branched out on his own in the last decade.

“He acquired many close friends and work colleagues and was highly respected in the community for his kindness and generosity,” his family added in a written tribute provided to this newspaper.

They pointed out that Donal never forgot about his west Limerick roots, and returned to Shannonside every year to visit family and friends.

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“After the passing of his father Arty, Donal took over the farm and divided his time between Limerick and Hamilton until he successfully leased the farm,” his family wrote.

A huge Limerick hurling supporter, he was delighted when the team won their fourth straight All-Ireland title last summer.

His first cousin is Liam Dillon, who taught at Christ the King National School in Caherdavin for almost 50 years.

Liam spent five days in Canada with Donal last October, with the pair visiting Niagara Falls.

“He was a countryman at heart. He grew up on a dairy farm, so he was well used to hard graft. He took that into his working life too. But he was very modest and assured, very thoughtful, he had a lot of very fine qualities,” Liam said.

“A smart fella, he could talk about anything,” he concluded.

Donal is survived by his four sisters, Miriam, Trish, Hilda and Helen who live in Portugal, Australia, Ireland and Britain respectively.

In addition to this, he was an uncle to Stephen, Kate, Ellie, Arty and Zach.

His family added in tribute: “He was our solid rock in good times and bad.

“His generosity and selflessness knew no bounds. To all, he was the kindest and humblest of souls. His sisters have tragically lost their guiding force, the world has lost a truly inspirational and honest human being,” the tribute concludes.

May he rest in peace.