Terence Coyle: An Appreciation

There was deep sadness in Derry and Inishowen at the passing of talented creative and passionate environmentalist, Terence Coyle. 

Terence was the much loved son of Mary and the late Tony; loving brother of Philip, Kieran, John and Mairead; dear uncle of Michael, Rebecca, Rachel, Aoife and Liam and dear friend of Mura.

"Terence will beforever missed by his mother, sister, brothers, nieces, nephews, his extended family and many friends. May Terence's gentle Soul rest in peace."

Terence's remains are reposing at his late home, 63, Mill Brae, Buncrana. Removal from there on Sunday morning, July 16, at 10.15am going to St Mary's Church, Cockhill for Requiem Mass at 11.00am followed by interment in the adjoining cemetery.

Requiem Mass can be viewed on www.churchservices.tv/cockhill Family time please from 11.00pm to 11.00am and on the morning of the funeral. Family flowers only please, donations in lieu, if desired, to Ward 50 Altnagelvin Hospital c/o any family member. 

Terence had deep Derry roots. Conveying the poignant news of his death, the Nerve Centre, where he played an integral role said: "Terry Coyle, Nerve Centre colleague and friend, sadly passed away yesterday after a period of illness.

"Terry approached life and work with a smile on his face and genuine desire to help in a gentle, supportive and very human manner."

Paying a warm and beautiful tribute to Terry, who they described as a "quiet, calm, patient and hardworking man who was never without a smile on his face," his Nerve Centre colleagues, Martin Melarkey and John Peto said: "In the mid 1990s, Terry was one of a group of talented and creative individuals who signed up for Nerve Centre’s first full-time multimedia training course and remained to become our core digital media production team.

"This was a time of significant change for Nerve Centre as the rapid advances in new digital technologies and the advent of the internet enabled us to integrate the separate disciplines of music composition, sound recording, film, video and animation.

"Terry’s skills as a technical manager played an integral role in Nerve Centre’s transformation into a production house for dynamic digital media education resources. Several years were invested in creating rich multimedia content for the Symbols CD-Roms on 1916 and 1798, and Terry had responsibility for collating and managing all of the audio and video interviews, images, illustrations, photographs, maps, animations and text. This was a highly ambitious undertaking, breaking new ground for Nerve Centre, but Terry’s quiet patience, unstinting work ethic, eternal optimism and calm attention to detail ensured that the projects reached a level of professionalism that we could all be proud of.

"Terry had an avid interest in archives and he became the key driving force behind the creation of the North West Digital Film Archive, a mammoth production that brought together over 90 hours of Super8 home movie footage, television programmes, films and video content on Derry and Donegal.

"For almost two decades, he worked at a grassroots level in Derry helping local communities record and digitally archive their history. During City of Culture 2013, Terry was part of the Portrait of a City team based at the Rath Mor Centre in Creggan and he went on to work in The Forge project, archiving the history of the Shantallow community.

"Terry continued his links with Shantallow, providing technical leadership to the FabSocial project — bringing cutting-edge digital design and manufacturing skills to the wider Shantallow community, while helping to develop creativity, job skills and ambition with young and old alike there.

"Outside of Nerve Centre, Terry used his talent in photography to pursue his love of nature. Again this is where his Zen-like calm and patience came into it’s own. He could wait for hours silently watching wildlife until the sudden appearance of an otter would bring his camera to life.

"Terry was a patient, positive and kind-hearted person, generous with his time and his technical knowledge, and he had a deep personal commitment to employing digital technologies for social change and community empowerment. He approached life and work with a smile on his face and genuine desire to help in a gentle, supportive and very human manner.

"His professional legacy will live on in the many people whom he inspired to learn digital skills — from school children to senior citizens — and in the rich archival material that will be available to local communities for generations to come. His personal legacy may best be measured by the affection and esteem in which he is held by the many people that worked alongside him over his long association with Nerve Centre, where he will be forever remembered with a smile and with love." (Martin Melarkey and John Peto.)

Grieving Terence, The Mill River Conservation Group in Buncrana said: "It was a great sadness to our group today to hear of the sad passing of Terrance Coyle. His home was on the banks of the Mill River. Enjoy his great gift for nature and bird photography.

"His home was on the banks of the Mill River. 

"Enjoy his great gift for nature and bird photography."

Terence Coyle: Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.