A Tribute to a Remarkable Friend and Colleague: Eamon Tierney
All of us at Wexford Festival Opera are deeply saddened by the passing of Eamon Tierney - friend, former Board member and devoted volunteer. Our sympathies go to Eamon’s wife, Niamh, his children Ciara, Conor, and Daire, and all who knew and loved him. We thank Board member Karina Daly for sharing this heartfelt tribute.
A Tribute to a Remarkable Friend and Colleague: Eamon Tierney
There are some people whose presence seems to brighten every room they enter, whose generosity of spirit quietly lifts the lives of those around them. Our dear friend and colleague - Eamon Tierney - was one of those rare individuals. A retired anaesthetist, a devoted volunteer with Wexford Festival Opera, a family man, and a true lover of life, he carried with him a warmth and wit that made him unforgettable.
Eamon had an extraordinary gift for friendship. People gravitated towards him - not because he sought attention, but because he offered genuine interest, kindness, and a mischievous humour that could soften even the hardest day. His attitude to life was simple and profound: embrace it fully, give generously, and never lose your curiosity.
Many knew him as a man of medicine, but few realised he was also a man of words. His letters to The Irish Times - slipped in under a carousel of pseudonyms - were the stuff of quiet legend. Almost no one knew that his personal record, five letters published in a single day, each under a different name, was an achievement he cherished with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
His dedication to Wexford Festival Opera was unwavering. Having spent years serving on the Board of Wexford Festival Opera and volunteering across various roles at Festival time, Eamon joined the Festival Community Committee to continue to give his advice and expertise on ensuring that the Festival would remain rooted in the community from where it grew. He reinstated the Festival Essay Competition in 2025 because he believed in the power of the written word to draw people in and connect them with the Festival. He also was keenly aware of the importance of engaging with young people - the audiences of the future. Eamon could be found entertaining Festival guests, or sitting outside Dublin airport waiting to pick up singers to drive them to Wexford. Even during the most challenging days of the Covid pandemic, he could be found in the National Opera House, ensuring that members of the company received their vaccinations so that the Festival - the community he loved - could continue. He gave his time freely, wholeheartedly, and always with a sense of purpose.
Above all, he was a family man. His greatest joy was found in the people he loved most - his wife Niamh, his children Ciara, Conor and Daire, and in the quiet moments they spent together. He took immense pride in his grandchildren, speaking of them with deep affection and joy whenever he had the chance. He travelled widely, lived fully, and appreciated the world with the eyes of someone who never took a single experience for granted.
Eamon spoke openly and peacefully about the end of life. He said he was not afraid of dying because he was at peace with everyone and everything. That serenity, that acceptance, was a final gift to those who loved him.
His loss will be felt deeply - by his family, his friends, his colleagues, and the many communities he enriched. We will miss his friendship, his dedication, his humour, and his unwavering belief in doing things wholeheartedly.
But more than anything, we will miss the man himself: wise, witty, compassionate, and endlessly alive to the world around him.
He leaves behind a legacy of kindness, service, and joy. And for that, we are profoundly grateful.