‘Remarkable woman’ Lady Goulding laid to rest
A large congregation at St Mary’s Church heard the parish priest, Fr Pat Farnan, describe the 85-year-old legendary charity worker as “a truly remarkable person”.
Among the hundreds who paid their respects was a large group of patients from the CRC, who were widely known as Lady Goulding’s “greatest fans”.
“They were the people who brought a smile to her face and who were at the centre of her life,” Fr Farnan said.
Among the chief mourners were Lady Goulding’s sons, Lingard, Tim and Ham, her grandchildren, Barnes, Leah and Camille and brother, Gilbert.
Lady Goulding, who converted to Catholicism in adult life, died peacefully at Beechfield Manor nursing home in Shankill last Monday.
Her coffin was draped in the red and white flag bearing the cross of the Order of Malta in recognition of her role as dame of the volunteer corps.
In his homily, Fr Farnan said Lady Goulding had dedicated her life to charity work when “she could so easily have lived a life of indulgence”. “She has helped so many families who were probably at their wits’ ends,” he said.
Also present at the funeral Mass were the President of the Order of Malta and President of the District Court, Judge Peter Smithwick, artists Louis Le Brocquy and Anne Madden, TD Seán Haughey, author Deirdre Purcell, developer Johnny Rohan of Treasury Holdings and estate agent and prominent Flood Tribunal witness John Finnegan. President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern were represented by their respective aides-de-camp, Captain Sue Ramsbottom and Captain Gerald O’Grady.
At the funeral Mass, Ham Goulding read a tribute from writer, Christopher Nolan, to his mother in 1987 after attending the CRC in Clontarf.
In an appreciation, Lady Goulding’s close friend, Denis Wardell, described how she had founded the CRC in 1951 with Kathleen O’Rourke to provide care for two patients. Today, the clinic provides services for more than 4,000 patients, he said.
After the liturgical service, Lady Goulding’s remains were taken for burial at St Patrick’s churchyard in Enniskerry, where her husband Basil is also interred.