Donegal disability rights activist, music journalist Donal K O’Boyle was mourned

Former Donegal Person of the Year Donal K O’Boyle will be buried in his native Gweedore on Saturday.

There was widespread grief after the music journalist and disability rights campaigner died on Thursday.

A resident of Knockastolar, Gweedore, he lived at Cheshire Apartments in Letterkenny.

He was named Donegal Person of the Year for 1981.

At the age of just three months he contracted polio and during his early years spent time in hospitals in Dublin, Galway and Glasgow.

In the late 1970s he took a journalism course, learned to type and initially started writing articles ‘to pass the time’.

He subsequently contributed material to a series of newspapers and magazines. For years he wrote a popular column in the Donegal News.

Earlier this year he was honored at the Hot Country Music Awards held in Letterkenny.

He had previously assisted at festivals including Mary From Dungloe, Letterkenny International Folk Festival and Glenswilly Festival.

He was secretary of the North West Handicapped Committee in the 1980s and was instrumental in securing a sheltered workshop on the Gweedore Industrial Estate.

He campaigned vigorously for disability rights across many sectors and was presented with his Donegal Person of the Year Award at the Gresham Hotel.

In recent years he became involved with the Donegal Center for Independent Living (DCIL).

His death occurred at Letterkenny University Hospital.

Predeceased by his parents Paddy and Nora, he is sadly missed by his brothers Finbarr, Vincent and Declan, sisters Philomena, Gloria, Marion and Carmel, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews and extended family and relatives. friends.

His funeral mass will take place on Saturday at 2pm at St Mary’s Church, Derrybeg, with burial to follow in Magheragallon Cemetery.

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