THE devastated family of a Glasgow Irishman who died suddenly on a trip home from Australia have laid him to rest.
Mystery still surrounds the death of Paul O'Donnell, who passed away just two days after coming home for a visit from Sydney.
The O’Donnell family came together to lay Paul to rest on Saturday, July 18 but were none the wiser as to how this happened.
The Christ the King Roman Catholic Church in Glasgow was described as having “an amazing turnout” with “standing room only”, as tributes flooded in on social media for Paul O’Donnell.
Paul, who would have turned 30 on Sunday, July 12, passed away in the early hours of July 9. Glasgow police are currently treating his death as unexplained.
Having spent his life in Glasgow during his youth, Paul decided to move to Australia in 2013 for a new adventure. A trained joiner, he spent a happy two years in Sydney but decided to come back to Glasgow for a few weeks to spend his 30th birthday with his loved ones.
“By all accounts he was loving it over there,” Anton Gallagher, a friend of Paul’s for many years, told The Irish Post.
“We’re all in a lot of shock,” he said. “Me and Pod had been through school together, he was a couple of years younger than me, but I knew him for years.”
Paul arrived in Glasgow on Monday, July 7, and was enjoying a night out just two days later when he tragically died.
His body was found at around 2.30am on Thursday, July 9 – but there is no clue as to how his death came about.
The popular Celtic FC fanatic was immensely proud of his Irish roots.
After he left school, Paul went on to become a joiner and worked in Scotland for many years, including with his uncle at Queen’s Park Builders in Glasgow. However, in 2013 a sunnier lifestyle called him and Paul decided to join thousands of other Irishmen in Australia.
“By all accounts he was loving it over there,” Mr Gallagher revealed. “His intention was to come back to spend his 30th birthday with his family.”
“He was home for about six weeks in total and he was going to go over to Ireland to see all his family over there in about two weeks,” Mr Gallagher added.
It was Paul’s plan to spend a few weeks in Glasgow before heading over to his family in Ireland on Friday, July 24, for a weekend visit before going back to Australia.
Sadly, Paul would die before his family had the chance to come together for the occasion.
His sudden death has left the Irish community in Glasgow in shock – and so far, there is no explanation as to how he passed away.
“He came back on Monday night and he went out on the Wednesday,” Mr Gallagher said. “And he never came back.”
“We still don’t know how he died so we’re all a bit in shock.”
Christ the King RC Church in Glasgow was “standing room only” for Paul’s funeral service on Saturday, July 18. The chief mourners included his devastated parents Paddy and Eileen, along with his siblings Sheila and Daniel.
He was laid to rest in the nearby Linn Cemetery on Lainshaw Drive after the funeral service.
A spokesperson for Greater Glasgow Police told The Irish Post: “At around 2.30am on the ninth of July, the body of a man was found on Memel Street in Glasgow. At this time, the death is being treated as unexplained.”
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