On what was the 60th anniversary of his ordination to the Priesthood, Monsignor Seán Cahill was laid to rest.

The funeral of the former Parish Priest of Enniskillen and Vicar-General of Clogher Diocese was celebrated in St. Michael’s Church in the town before burial in the Convent Cemetery on Friday, July 24.

During his homily at the funeral, Monsignor Peter O’Reilly described the anniversary, the Diamond Jubilee, as a “noble day for an already noble family, which was to give two brothers to the priesthood of the Diocese of Clogher”.

Monsignor O’Reilly said Monsignor Cahill was the “model of discretion and wisdom”.

“At the centre of the Mass, the priest stands: drawing us together in hope, in faith and in love. And as a priest, Father Seán was certainly that. He drew people together in hope, in faith and in love.

“He helped us to stand in hope when we were rocked by happenings in our community.

“He helped us to stand in faith in the beauty brought forth in our parish churches. He helped us to stand in love by the way he connected with us in banter and chat, all the while knowing us and noticing us, all the while being the utter and kindly gentleman among us.”

Monsignor O’Reilly described a priest as someone who stands in the place of Christ, and that is something Monsignor Cahill did from baptism to confessions to weddings.

“And uniquely, at Mass, he is there as Christ was at the Last Supper, washing the feet, speaking his command: love one another; this is me given for you, do this in memory of me. All of this, Father Seán did.

In the homily, Monsignor O’Reilly said there are two Bishops who will remember him as their “wise and sage” Vicar-General.

“Someone whom they could trust implicitly. Someone who could nudge them in his inimitable style.

“Someone who accompanied them in the troubled, turbulent times, that brought shocks and stresses previously unimaginable.”

Monsignor O’Reilly spoke about the work of Monsignor Cahill in Catholic Education in which he was involved in the “major transformative uplift of the estate of our Catholic Schools in Northern Ireland”.

His Vicar-General role brought him a level of responsibility in Catholic Education which is best understood in its will to value pupils and students as children of God.

“He was a member of what became CCMS from its inception, and often acknowledged the foundational work of Bishop Patrick Walsh and Monsignor Colm McCaughan.

“Monsignor Cahill has made a legacy contribution to area planning in this diocese, not least in bringing together our wonderful primary school for which he chose the name Holy Trinity, not Trinity, no: Holy Trinity. It is a Catholic school.”

Monsignor O’Reilly concluded by saying that through all his work in the parish and diocese the memories will be “golden” of Monsignor Cahill.

“But in the end, while he was called Monsignor, he was experienced as a Father.

“A Father who called this parish and diocese to better; a Father who was with us amid life’s storms; a Father who knew who we were and could josh and joke with us.

“Today the thanks are real, the tears are real, and the memories are golden on this the diamond anniversary of the ordination of a great priest.”