Local kidney transplant recipient remembers late son at poignant service

Curraghroe native Padraic Brehon, who received a donor kidney from his brother Liam 41 years ago, remembered his late son Cormac at the Irish Kidney Association’s annual service of remembrance and thanksgiving held recently in Dublin.

The unique and poignant event which took place on September 27th in the Church of the Holy Child, Whitehall, honoured deceased organ donors and their families, while celebrating the renewed lives of transplant recipients.

Padraic Brehon, the second youngest in the family of eight surviving brothers and one sister, had been diagnosed with kidney disease when he was 15-years-old. His condition quickly progressed to end stage kidney failure.

Following two unsuccessful kidney transplants from deceased donors, his youngest brother Liam came to the rescue. While Padraic’s other siblings were disappointed that they were not suitable kidney donors for their ailing brother, Liam was waiting in the wings until he came of age and was deemed to be a perfect match. 

So on July 17th, 1984, the brothers’ successful living donor kidney transplant operations took place at the old Jervis Street Hospital in Dublin.

Padraic is still enjoying good health with the donor kidney he received from his youngest brother Liam who was just 22-years-old at the time.

During the Irish Kidney Association’s 40th annual service of remembrance and thanksgiving, the two Brehon brothers brought an award-winning article written by Padraic’s late son Cormac when he was 11 years old to the altar.

Cormac sadly passed away suddenly in 2021 at the age of 29.

In his article, Cormac had reflected on his father’s health journey and the gratitude he had towards his uncle Liam. He wrote a moving account of his father’s struggle with kidney disease and the joy of his successful transplant.

The essay won the Roscommon Herald’s ‘Junior Writer of the Year’ competition.

Now in its 40th year, the Irish Kidney Association’s remembrance service has become a deeply meaningful annual gathering for donor families and organ transplant recipients, many of whom attend every year to reflect, remember, and give thanks.

The service was recorded by Kairos Communications for broadcast on RTÉ One, Radio 1 Extra and RTÉ Player on Sunday, November 2nd at 11 a.m..