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In life, Michael Byrne, affectionately known as “Old Belfield” for leisurely roaming the UCD campus for three decades, was homeless. Upon dying, he is gifted a “home away from home.”
The 71-year-old homeless man, who was found dead in a sleeping bag on the university grounds on Monday, receives a final resting place in the South Dublin countryside.
After seeing the outpouring on social media after his death, the funeral directors at Kilternan Cemetery Park and Massey Bros will deliver a funeral, burial, plot and headstone to him at no charge.
“It’s an appropriate place because for a guy who lived in nature, under the stars and under the trees around UCD, he goes to a place like where he lived, a natural place. Our cemetery is in the country. It’s the same kind of landscape, ”said cemetery manager Rory Mulhall.
“It really is going to a home away from home. What touched us was the whole social media thing. There were thousands of people on social media talking about him and remembering him. “
Byrne’s funeral will be held at UCD’s Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Church in Belfield on Wednesday and her remains will be brought to Kilternan for burial. Susan Maguire, CEO of Massey Bros on Newtownpark Avenue in Blackrock, is planning her funeral.
Kilternan Cemetery Park
The funeral will be broadcast by UCD on its website. Covid-19 public restrictions apply to funerals with current Level 5 restrictions limiting mourner attendance to 10.
Last week’s UCD post on social media alerting the public to the death of “a fiercely reserved person” who was quietly cared for by staff and students for over 30 years, made memories of the man described as a “gentle soul” and a “silent guardian of UCD.”
Mulhall said he remembered “Old Belfield” well from his time as a stone contractor at UCD for the past 20 years. He had regular meetings with Mr. Byrne.
“I used to be there early in the morning. I would have given him sandwiches. Most of the time it didn’t take anything away from you. I would take a cigarette from you though. The very strange moment when he had a sandwich, “he said.
“In all the years I was there, I never heard him utter a word. He always stayed away from people. He is a fascinating man for having kept everything for so long. I know a lot of people in or around UCD and I don’t know anyone I have talked to. “
Byrne has no known relatives and his closest relatives, a man who would only want to be identified as “Sam,” has said he hopes publicity about the man’s death could result in a family member showing up.
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