Jarlath a gentleman who led a life that was deeply valued

“A life like Jarlath’s is not measured simply in years, but in the care he showed, the lives he touched and the memories he leaves behind.” Those were the opening remarks of Rev Andrei Stolnicu at the funeral of retired Garda Inspector Jarlath Folan on Friday last.

In his eulogy, Fr Stolnicu said Jarlath had been described by many as a gentleman – “that was not flattery, it was the conclusion people took from the sum of years of ordinary moments, conversations, actions or small decisions”.

Fr Stolnicu quoted the words used by Jarlath when he acted as MC at the funeral of Det Garda Colm Horkan, who was murdered while on duty in 2020 – “‘Policing is an extension of the community and today’s gathering is poignant and indicative of that and of the esteem in which Det Horkan was held’”.

Fr Stolnicu said those words describe exactly what we are witnessing here today (at Jarlath’s funeral Mass) – an extension of our community and respect for a life that mattered and a man who was deeply valued.

He recalled that Jarlath was born in Tuam, County Galway, to Liam and Mary Folan. He and his brother Gabriel followed their father Liam into An Garda Síochána. For Jarlath, it was never just work, Fr Stolnicu said. “Jarlath was a man to be trusted, not because he demanded it, but because of the way he carried himself. You can’t fake that. That comes from years of being consistent, years of choosing fairness, years of paying attention to people, and today you can see what that created,” he stated.

Fr Stolnicu spoke of Jarlath’s love of the Galway football team and the Liverpool soccer team, and his own days on the pitch playing five-a-side with Mullingar Athletics and Gaelic football with Mullingar Shamrocks. He also spoke of Jarlath’s love of music, politics, Irish history and books, and his love of travelling with his family.

He was a gentleman not in grand gestures but in the small steady way he treated people. That is why it hurts as it does because a life like his does not pass lightly through the world, it settles into you, Fr Stolnicu concluded.

Gifts symbolising Jarlath’s life were carried to the altar, among them his garda cap, a Liverpool jersey and an Anfield sign, a can of Guinness, a Galway All-Ireland 1998 plaque and the Galway flag.

His son Jacob read a couple of lines from the Liverpool anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, prefacing it with the quip “I might go up in flames reading this” as he and his brother Joshua are avid Manchester United fans.

Jarlath’s coffin, draped in the tricolour and bearing his garda cap and gloves, was carried from the Cathedral of Christ the King, Mullingar, to the strains of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.

In the many pages of tributes paid to Jarlath on RIP.ie, he was described as professional to the core, courteous, empathetic, sincere, hardworking, dedicated, loyal, a person of the utmost integrity to deal with, both personally and professionally, and someone who “enjoyed the craic”.

Jarlath Folan passed away peacefully on April 14, following an illness borne with great bravery, in the company of his loving family at Sancta Maria Nursing Home, Kinnegad.

Predeceased by his parents Liam and Mary, Jarlath will be lovingly remembered and deeply missed by his family, his wife Rhonda (Hoye), his adored children Ava, Joshua, Jacob and Olivia, his sisters Margaret and Sinéad, his brothers Gabriel and Robert, nieces, nephews, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, parents-in-law, relatives, many friends and his former colleagues in An Garda Síochána. Remembering also, all the deceased members of the Folan and Hoye families at this sad time. Donations in lieu of flowers, if desired, may be made to the Dublin Neurological Institute.

Footnote

In 1991 and 1992 Jarlath Folan was one of a dozen Irish gardaí serving on a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Angola, a country that had been ravished by a bloody civil war since the mid-70s.

During his time there, Jarlath was actively involved in several investigations and interventions between the warring sides – the government forces and UNITA – and, while unarmed, often had to literally stand between those two heavily armed factions.

Living and working conditions were difficult. There were no telephones outside the capital city, which was hundreds of miles away. Contact with HQ was by radio, and it was not always reliable. All they had on the ground was a 4x4 or two, and after 30 years of civil war most of the roads were impassable.

Jarlath and five others had to patrol an area greater than the size of Munster, often going 300 or 400 miles to investigate an incident, staying overnight, sometimes sleeping in their vehicle.

They also faced the threat of attack from locals who were impoverished and many of whom were former military personnel who still had firearms, landmines and carried disease. Many peacekeeping personnel contracted malaria, including some Irish gardaí. There was no medical assistance in many of the police centres, and gardaí had to totally rely on supplies from the depot hospital at Garda HQ. Local medical assistance was unsafe and unreliable.

The situation was deemed so serious during Jarlath’s time there that the garda surgeon visited the mission.

In June 2001, Jarlath committed to paper a fascinating and informative account of his time with the peacekeeping force in Angola.