Noreen Daly hailed as a ‘force of nature with a zest for life’ at funeral

Olivia Kelleher

A former college principal whose body was found at her home in Waterford last Monday had a “rare gift” and “saw goodness where others saw faults, beauty where others hurried past, and friends where others saw strangers," her funeral mass has heard.

Noreen Daly (81) lived alone following the death of her husband, Michael, in 2023.

A man in his 30s has been charged with the murder of the pensioner who permanently relocated to Ardsallagh from Monkstown in Co Dublin earlier this year.

She and her husband had kept a holiday home in Waterford for 25 years.

The pensioner was a native of Ballygarvan in Co Cork. She moved to Grenagh in Co Cork as a youngster when her family sold their land to facilitate the development of Cork Airport.

Her funeral mass in St Lachteen’s Church in Grenagh heard that Noreen became one of the first members of cabin crew with Aer Lingus and often flew out of her old “home” in Cork Airport.

Her niece Therese Walsh told mourners that Noreen had a great capacity to make people feel seen.

She said that Noreen had lived an “incredible life” marrying the “love of her life” Michael in 1969 in Paris. Two years later she enrolled in the College of Art and Design in Kildare Street in Dublin.

Her “great passion” for art led to her ultimately becoming the Principal of the College of Art and Design in Dun Laoghaire.

Walsh said that her “remarkable” aunt had a enormous enthusiasm for education and helped countless students reach their potential.

She said that no words could possibly sum up the “amazing woman" they were honoured to have had in their lives.

“Noreen’s heart was a garden of such beautiful flowers and those flowers never died even in the hardest times. She was a force of nature with a zest for life. While our hearts are heavy with grief they are also filled with gratitude and countless memories she has gifted us.

She showered us with pure love and showed us how to become courageous. Noreen you had a way of making people feel special – making people feel seen in a world where people are unseen.

Noreen had a unique way of getting the best out of you through her positivity and angelic powers of persuasion,

She taught us the meaning of family with her unconditional love. Her generosity had no bounds.

She filled her life with her love for singing sean nos, opera, the Irish language, dancing and music of all genres.

She immersed herself in the Ardmore choir where people described her as having the voice of a pure angel. She was a member of so many groups.”

Walsh added that the legacy of her aunt was of “love, kindness, generosity, care, determination, strength and courage.”

Meanwhile, Grenagh Parish priest Fr Micheal O’Loingsigh said that Noreen would have been touched by the fact that the Ardmore Singer provided the music and singing at the mass.

Fr O’Loinsigh said that Noreen was a “kind compassionate person.”

“She saw the good in everyone and wanted to help everyone in whatever way she could. Above all for you she was a dear sister, an aunt that you are heartbroken after he passing,

Maybe we should remember again her love of life. Her death does not define her life.”

He urged mourners to look at the beautiful picture of Noreen on the coffin which showed how “radiant she was in life.”

“Perhaps look at that picture. Keep it in your mind as I know you will. That radiance, that light she shone of joy and love in this world.

That can never be extinguished.”

Offertory gifts included a ukulele, a banana plant, Noreen's hats, a sculpture she created in memory of her husband and one of her paintings.

Her family thanked the gardaí and the emergency services for their help over the last week.

A memorial mass booklet was provided to all those who gathered in the church. In the booklet her loved ones thanked Noreen for her “generous heart, her love of nature and the countless acts of quiet goodness she scattered throughout the world.”

The pensioner was laid to rest at St Lacteen’s cemetery. She is survived by her siblings Teddy Murphy, Tessie Walsh, Lelia Bolster, Ann Humphreys and Kitty O’Donerty whom she “adored beyond measure.”

She is also mourned by her brothers-in-law Batt and Kevin, sisters-in-law Bernie, Sheila and Sheilagh, nieces, nephews, cousins, neighbours and friends.