Kildare Army Corporal laid to rest
The late Cpl Terry Smyth
TRIBUTES have flooded in for a beloved and highly regarded Army Corporal who died in Co Kildare.
The Defence Forces announced the death in service of Corporal Terry Smyth of the Army Ordnance Corps, who was found in an unresponsive state by his colleagues in the Defence Forces Training Centre at the Curragh Camp.
Mourners have paid tribute to “a very talented soccer player and genuine nice person,” an “absolutely kind and thoughtful gentleman”, and someone who “always had a smile for everyone”.
Aged 32, Cpl Smyth was a Kildare native and joined Óglaigh na hÉireann in 2011 as a recruit in 5 Infantry Battalion. He had 13 proud years of service and served in a number of appointments with the 7 Infantry Battalion, 1 Mechanised Infantry Company, the Military College, Defence Forces Physical Education School and the Ordnance Corps to name a few.
He also served on peacekeeping missions overseas in Lebanon and Syria.
Cpl Smyth’s funeral Mass was held yesterday (Monday) at 10am at St Brigid’s Church, The Curragh. The tricolour was draped over his coffin and many members of the Defence Forces came to pay their respects.
“First and foremost he was a father to two wonderful, wonderful children, Regan and Fallon, whom he cherished and loved to the moon and back. Having them with Stacey were his proudest moments on this earth. He was a fiancé and a childhood partner to Stacey, whom he also loved to the ends of the earth,” his brother Eoin told those gathered.
“He was a son. Terry, Connor and I are blessed with the two best parents anyone could ever wish for,” he said.
“He was a brother. One of Terry's proudest moments in the Irish Defence Forces was saluting his youngest brother when he commissioned. My proudest moment was when he stood up in Mayo for my wedding as my best man and he knocked it out of the park.” The Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Lieutenant General Seán Clancy, said they have lost a fine colleague and a better friend.
“All of us in Óglaigh na hÉireann extend our deepest sympathies to the family and the friends of Corporal Terry Smyth and to all those who were lucky enough to have known him, in whatever capacity that it was,” he said. “He will be sorely missed but never forgotten. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.” Cpl Smyth is sadly missed by his loving partner Stacey, daughter Regan, son Fallon, parents Terry and Audrey, brothers Eoin and Connor, sister in law Grainne, Connor's partner Lynda, Stacey's parents Ann and Jim and the Pender family, nieces, nephews, extended family, neighbours, friends and Army colleagues.
