A Dublin man was remembered as "a man of honour and respect" who was a "pioneer of the martial arts in Ireland" who leaves behind an incredible legacy, his funeral mass heard today.
Barney Coleman's funeral took place this morning as the congregation gathered in the St Michan's Church, Halston Street in Smithfield. Mr Coleman's funeral was attended by his family, friends, former work colleagues and former karate students from his days running the High Street Kenpo Karate Academy in the Liberties.
He sadly passed away on Friday, 19 August surrounded by his loving family. The mass was officiated by Fr. Martin Bennett.
Read more: Tributes flow for Dublin man who was 'pioneer of martial arts' following death
Speaking during the mass, Barney's nephew Tadhg said: "I had two father figures growing up I had my father and I had Barney, and I'm very lucky for that. Barney's always had quotes to make you understand life and get you ready for the big bad world.
"Some of them were 'every man dies, cries and makes mistakes' and the other one was 'the one thing you can give and can't get back is time so spend it well.' I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time with him growing up, when we were travelling I realised there was two sides to him: the regimental side and the soft side that nobody really saw.
"When we were travelling he shared some stories with me of when he was growing up, some of them were growing up on the hard streets of Dublin and his love of music, his regret of not spending enough time with his family. And where he buried his money," said Tadgh.
"Later in life Barney wanted to go back to college, he always wanted to go back and finish his Leaving Cert. So before he started the night before we were in High Street and the lads decided to get him a present, we got him a little kid's lunchbox and bag and a little set of boxing gloves in case he got bullied."
He described how there was "no beating around the bush" with Barney. "Barney was a man of honour and respect, that's the way he lived. There will be no replacing him and he'll be sorely missed by all, and now we can really say the king has left the building."
Meanwhile, Barney's brother Paul said a heart-felt thank you to everyone for coming out to pay tribute to his beloved brother Barney. He told Dublin Live earlier this week: "Barney helped promote karate and kickboxing and other arts in the MMA world. He was the driving force behind all the top associations in Ireland.
"He trained in High Street up to the day he had his stroke in 2018," added Paul. High Street is still owned by the Coleman family, with Paul and his sons Tadhg and Oisin now running the popular karate club.
Barney Coleman is survived by his oving family, brothers, nieces, nephews, relatives and all of his friends. May he Rest in Peace.
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