'Our Remarkable Sam' – Tributes paid after sad passing of Private Sam Hayden Kilroe
'Our Remarkable Sam' are the words at the bottom of the funeral arrangements for Private Sam Hayden Kilroe who sadly died last Sunday November 20.
Sam who was in his early 20s was from Cill Báin, Tullamore, and was a past pupil of Killina Presentation School in Rahan.
A Gunner of the 2 Brigade Artillery Regiment. Sam had passed out from Collins Barracks Cork in 2020.
The Irish Defence Forces paid this tribute to Sam.
''After attending secondary school in Killina Presentation School, Sam fulfilled his lifelong wish of joining the Defence Forces in 2019 when he commenced 16 weeks of recruit training in Cork before progressing onto the next phase of his training in Galway.
"On completion of these courses he was posted to the 2 Brigade Artillery Regiment in Custume Barracks, Athlone and was stationed there throughout 2020-2022, serving on a variety of operational taskings and providing vital support to the HSE and other agencies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While stationed in Athlone he qualified as an Artillery Gunner and despite his career being tragically cut short by an illness he faced bravely, his sense of humour, kindness and willingness to always lend a hand to his colleagues will be fondly remembered by all who had the pleasure of serving with him.
"His kindness was only further exhibited when last month, despite his illness, Sam and his family organised a Halloween party in Maunsells pub to raise funds for Dochas Offaly Cancer Support raising nearly €15,000.''
A tribute from Killina Secondary school described Sam as the ''definitive gentleman. Always friendly, always kind.
''Sam quietly got on with school in his own self-possessed, unassuming, genial manner. Never one to seek to be the centre of attention, Sam blended in to all school activities seamlessly. Whenever the craic or sneering or jeering was in full swing, Sam was there smiling quietly, yet if the occasion demanded, one witty quip or retort could leave you floored.
"When Sam announced that he was planning on joining the army as his career, you could immediately see how the discipline, structure and organisational aspects of army life would appeal to Sam, and how that inner resolve he carried unobtrusively would see him make a fine soldier.
"Yet the battle he found himself in was so beyond any expectation or explanation, but nonetheless Sam fought it with courage and fortitude to the very end in a manner that extolled every virtue any soldier could aspire to.
''Death confounds us at any time, but most especially when it strikes at someone so young, with so much to offer life. We pray for Sam's family, his parents Hilary and John, his brothers Matthew and Ross, and his sister Sophie. Sam visited the school last June on the occasion of Ross's Graduation Mass with his family. It was such a pleasure to see him, to talk about the new developments in the school, and to catch up on old memories, in that typically warm, unfailingly friendly fashion of his.
"We think of all of Sam's classmates and his many friends. Sam's presence illuminated and enhanced so many lives. We pray that in the coming days, weeks and months that the pain and void of loss recedes, replaced with a fond and new appreciation of so many happy memories. We pray that, for Sam's family and friends, and for all of us for whom it was a privilege to know Sam, that his spirit will always be near, and will always be that reassuring presence he was in life.''
"Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam."
Sam's removal takes place tomorrow Wednesday morning November 23 at 11.30am to the Church of the Assumption, Tullamore, arriving for Funeral Mass at 12 noon. Burial after Mass in St. Colmcille's Cemetery, Durrow.