AS tributes from civic, political, arts and business sectors continue to be paid to the late Denis Leonard, whose name is synonymous with Limerick Civc Trust, there is a sense of deep loss for a man whose love, interest and drive for his city is evident in the spate of restoration projects he brought about.
Mr Leonard, who had been on a waiting list for a lung operation, lay in repose in the Georgian House, 2, Pery Square, one of his proudest restoration accomplishments, before his funeral mass, attended by the Mayor, Cllr Kevin Kiely, city manager, Tom Mackey and the city councillors, all of whom wore their ceremonial robes.
Mayor Kiely said that the city is indebted to the man who, in 1983, established the first civic trust in the country.
“He was a true gentleman who devoted his whole life to preserving Limerick’s architectural environment and heritage. He was one hundred per cent dedicated to improving the environment and always had the city’s best interests at heart”.
Revealing that he had just commenced the process of granting the Freedom of the City to Mr Leonard, the mayor invited the public to sign a Book of Condolences that he and the Limerick Civic Trust chairperson, Gabrielle Wallace, opened in City Hall
Limerick Chamber president, Harry Fehilly, described that the passing of Mr Leonard as a huge loss.
“He personally oversaw some of the most significant restoration projects in Limerick, including the Bishop’s Palace and the Georgian House and Garden in Pery Square – he has left behind a vast legacy and we will be eternally grateful for what he has done for the city”.|
Shannon Development’s Dr Vincent Cunnane, said that Limerick has lost an outstanding citizen.
Acknowledging Mr Leonard as “one of Limerick’s greatest citizens of the past century, and certainly one of its most outstanding of the past generation,” the businessman, Tadhg Kearney, said: “as an act of patriotism, he dedicated the bulk of his working life to the promotion of the city’s heritage in the mid 1980s, gave up a safe career in financial services to dedicate himself to the Civic Trust”.
Referring to the Trust’s restoration of the Jewish Burial Ground in Castletroy, Mr Kearney said this helped heal wounds of Limerick’s history and was praised by the late Jewish Lord Mayor of Cork, Gerald Goldberg, as “a generous act of reconciliation”.
