‘Loving, caring' father who died in river Lee remembered at funeral mass

Irish Times

05-05-2025

A young father-of-one who drowned while swimming in the river Lee in
Cork
last week was remembered at his funeral mass as a caring person who despite having his own troubles in life never hesitated to reach out and help others.
Luke Hyde (34) from Wolfe Tone Street drowned after he got into difficulty last Wednesday evening when he and a friend attempted swim across the north channel of the River Lee from Popes Quay to Lavitts Quay near the city centre.
The tragedy was witnessed by dozens of people, many of whom filmed it and posted footage of Mr Hyde's body being recovered from the river online.
His mother Lily Hyde gathered with her surviving adult children, Michael and Mark and Lucia to say their farewells at a concelebrated requiem mass at Cork's North Cathedral near where the family lived.
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Ms Hyde read the two main readings before funeral celebrant, Fr Marius O'Reilly told mourners that Ms Hyde had asked him to thank many people on her behalf - the gardai, the emergency services, medics and the local community for their help and support since the loss of Luke.
Fr O'Reilly said that Luke didn't have it easy in life, having lost his father Michael when he was a young boy. Fr O'Reilly noted that Luke subsequently had to similarly grieve the death of his older brother Brian who died in his sleep over five years earlier.
Fr O'Reilly stated that, in spite of all the tragedy Luke experienced in life, he still retained his loving nature.
'These (losses) had a big impact on him at such a young age. But the thing that everyone seems to talk about is what a gentle person he was. He had a loving, caring nature.
'I even heard how he would love the animals and even the worms. How he would look after even worms — wanting to care for them … he was also someone who would reach out to people and try to help people. He had his own troubles. But he was a great lesson to all of us in that sense.'
Fr O'Reilly told mourners that Luke loved sport and had played with Na Piarsaigh Hurling and Football Club growing up while he also followed Leeds Utd which made him stand out as Leeds fans are not too plentiful as he pondered that Luke must have enjoyed their recent promotion.
Mr Hyde, who had recently begun working in a supermarket in Douglas, is survived by his mother, Lily, his son Leon and his siblings, Michael, Mark and Lucia. Following his requiem mass, he was buried at St Catherine's cemetery in Kilcully, Co Cork.
The tragic incident prompted his mother, Lily to phone into The Neil Prendeville Show on Cork's Red FM to express her upset and disgust at people filming it.
'Luke … was my baby son. I was disgusted when I heard you talking this morning about those people down there. It was like a circus, watching my son drown, instead of trying to help him,' said Ms Hyde, who lost another son Brian in 2019.
'What have people in this world come to?'