Joint funeral to be held today for young Cork brothers who died within two weeks of each other

A joint funeral is to be held today for two brothers in their 30s from Cork who died of separate drug overdoses within a two week period.

Christine Kavanagh (65) from Gurranabraher on the northside of Cork city has now lost three sons to drugs. She is calling on the Government to allocate more resources for people who battle addiction.

Her son Dillon Kavanagh (30) died on January 23rd in Cork city. Damien Kavanagh (36) was found dead in his flat in Cardiff in Wales on January 8th.

Poignantly, Damien had made the decision to move out of Cork in recent years in an effort to escape from the drugs scene in the city. It is understand he was clean from drugs for some time.

Leon Kavanagh (31) succumbed to drug addiction in 2021. Separately, Ms Kavanagh also lost a fourth son Ross (31) in 2016 after he collapsed and died of an epilepsy related condition.

The body of Damien Kavanagh was brought back to Ireland from Wales with the assistance of the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust. Mourners are asked to donate to the trust, if desired, in lieu of flowers.

Damien and Dillon are survived by their parents Terry and Christine, their seven surviving siblings, extended family and a large circle of friends.

They were predeceased by their brothers Ross and Leon. Damien is also survived by his children Deon and Kelvin and their mother Sonya.

The brothers will lie in repose at Coughlan’s Funeral Home, Shandon Street today (Friday) from 10am. The family will be attendance from 6.30pm with rosary following at 7.30pm.

A requiem mass for both men will take place at 10am tomorrow (Sat) in St Mary’s on the Hill Church, in Knocknaheeny in Cork with burial following at St Catherine’s Cemetery, Kilcully.

‘IT JUST TOOK DILLON AWAY FROM US’

Christine Kavanagh previously told the Opinion Line on Cork’s 96FM that more needs to be done to make drug dealers accountable for their actions.

“They (dealers) have to stop dealing these dirty drugs to our sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers. (I got the call about Dillon) last night at about quarter to eleven. I was told Dillon was after passing away.

“It is not fair for a mum, a dad, a sister or a brother to bury another brother or a son. There should be more help out there. More services for them (people suffering from addiction).

“Dillon was a lovely son. Very educated but when he went down that road with those dirty drugs it just took Dillon away from us.”

Christine thanked her family and the local community for their support over the years and particularly in recent weeks as she has endured the unimaginable loss of two of her sons.

“I have fantastic support from our two families. The family of their Dad and all my family and friends and work and everywhere. The support we are getting is fantastic for me. But there is not enough support for addicts.