Brendan Kenna Brendan was a community activist, a sportsman, a superb organiser, an entertainer, a man of affairs and an inveterate traveller. Above all, however, he was a family man whose pride in his wife, children and grand-children was instantly apparent. Brendan was born in Dublin and grew up in Holles Street. He was educated at the Sisters of Mercy in Baggot Street and CBS Westland Row. After leaving school, he was apprenticed to Rocca Tiles, where his father also worked, as a terrazzo and mosaic layer. A skilled tradesman, his craft took him all over Ireland and to England until a diagnosis of MS in 1979 following a period of hospitalisation resulted in his premature retirement. It was a devastating blow. He had married Sarah in 1965 and they had just moved into their new house in Clondalkin. They had three boys, Alan, Brendan jnr. and Ian. Brendan’s health deteriorated rapidly and he became increasingly incapacitated. By 1980 he was part paralysed and confined to a wheelchair as a twenty-five year cycle of repeated infections, hospitalisations and heart attacks began, culminating in his infection with Hepatitis C from a contaminated blood transfusion in 1991. This disaster would have broken most people but for Brendan it was just another challenge. He joined the committee of Transfusion Positive and flung himself into their successful campaign to ensure redress and compensation for the individuals and families affected.

Brendan’s diagnosis with MS also began an astonishing period of community service. He joined the society and made an immediate impact involving himself in fundraising activities and administration. He became a most efficient secretary of the society and later national chairman in 1995-1998. However, his proudest achievement was the formation of the West Dublin branch of the society where he served as its first chairman. On the international stage he was well known, travelling all over Europe to meetings of the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation and European MS Platform. When proposed for membership of the Executive Committee of the Platform, he was unable to attend the meeting in Paris due to a sudden deterioration in his condition. It didn’t matter. Such was his reputation and popularity that he topped the poll.

Brendan’s community service was by no means confined to MS. He established and was the motive force behind the Ronanstown Senior Citizens Group, organizing outings, cabarets and Christmas dinners at which invariably he was the M.C. He was a member of the management committee of the Neilstown Community Centre. He was Honorary Life President of Neilstown Rangers F.C having been successively treasurer, secretary and chairman for nine years. During this period, he established an annual charity match between the Garda and the club with the object of improving community relations. He was also co-ordinator of the Neilstown Summer Project catering for 500 or so children. And all of this activity was organised from his bed or his wheelchair.

Brendan’s service was recognised in 1994 by the presentation of the Lord Mayor’s Award, the highest honour the Dublin City Council can bestow for community service. Previous recipients included Gay Byrne, Eamon Coughlan and Lady Valerie Goulding. Presenting the Award, the Lord Mayor, Tomás MacGiolla, said “Brendan is one of those rare people who see setback as opportunity and handicap as a challenge.” Other awards followed and in 2001 readers of the Irish Sun voted him Sunshine Person of the Year.

Sport was an abiding passion. In his youth, he played football for Bramley F.C. and Killeen F.C. and rugby for Palmerston RFC. He was a lifelong supporter of Aston Villa and only the most serious bout of illness would prevent his attendance at internationals at Lansdowne Road. There is a wonderful Irish Times picture of Jason McAteer scoring the goal against Holland that took Ireland to the world Cup finals in Japan and in the background, frozen in time, is Brendan, flanked by Alan his son and Gareth his grandson.

He was also a dandy, fastidious about his appearance and always immaculately turned out. At his funeral, his son Brendan Jnr. told the congregation how when his father went to collect his Lord Mayor’s Award, he insisted that his family be formally dressed. Obediently, his sons hired matching dark suits only to find when they arrived at the Mansion House that they were the only people so attired and were consequently assumed to be bouncers or bodyguards!

While Brendan loved the public stage and never failed to turn in a performance, privately he was often assailed by depression and sometimes despair. In these black moments, made worse by his creative and vivid imagination, it was his wife, Sarah, who brought him through, providing the stability of a loving home and family to his mercurial temperament. To those who knew, there were two heroes living at 45 St. Ronan’s Drive.

The massive turn-out at Brendan’s removal and funeral testified to the love and respect which he commanded. The Garda escort he would have appreciated. He always liked a bit of style. His death, which always seemed imminent but somehow never happened, leaves a huge void in the organisations he supported and the individuals he touched. In an interview with MS News in 1996, he said “I believe my life is all the richer due to my disability because it has given me the opportunity of meeting lots and lots of people who are in the same position as I am, and doing something for them.” His personal motto was: Make the most of life and the least of MS. He lived up to it every day of his life. Brendan Kenna was a hugely gifted, witty, generous, courageous and compassionate man and we are all the poorer for his passing. May his brave soul rest in peace.

The EMSP’s profound sympathy is extended to Sarah, Alan, Brendan Jnr. and Ian and to Brendan’s daughters in law, grandchildren and extended family. Brendan Kenna, born 22nd November 1938, died 8th January 2006, aged 67.

by Paul Hogan