Search

19 Sept 2025

Tributes to Kilkenny politician Dick Dowling, whose funeral takes place today

'His appetite for all sports was infectious especially the GAA and golf' - tribute from Phil Hogan

KILKENNY

The late Richard (Dick) Dowling

Reporter:

Kilkenny People

02 Apr 2024 9:32 AM

Email:

sam.matthews@kilkennypeople.ie

The funeral takes place today of Richard (Dick) Dowling, a former public representative and longstanding Fine Gael politician from South Kilkenny.
Mr Dowling was first elected to Kilkenny County Council in 1974 for the Piltown local electoral area, and was a county councillor until 2009. He was successfully elected to Seanad Eireann and Dáil Éireann from 1982 to 1987 and played a role in many national committees in Leinster House during the Garret Fitzgerald political era.
Among those to pay tribute to him was the former minister and former EU Commissioner Phil Hogan.
"It is with great sadness that I learned of the death of Dick Dowling, former member of Kilkenny County Council and former member of dail and senate," Mr Hogan said.
"He served the people of Carlow /kilkenny and most especially South Kilkenny as a Fine Gael representative for 35 years with professionalism, competence and diligence. His passion for his native Glenmore, (where he was born in 1938) and South Kilkenny were always prominent in his many deliberations and his support for projects at local and national level. Of course, his proximity to Waterford city brought him into regular debates regarding the extension of the Waterford boundary into county Kilkenny.
"He fiercely resisted these proposals and he was successful. However, he tried to find common political ground with his political colleagues of all parties in Waterford which culminated in the major infrastructural advances of the past 20 years at Belview port and the motorway from Waterford to Dublin."
Mr Dowling was also a secondary teacher at De La Salle in Waterford City. His appetite for all sports was infectious especially the GAA and golf. He was a totally committed supporter of Kilkenny, and rarely missed an important game.
His competitive participation in golf events were well known particularly at Waterford Golf Club, where he was a life long member. The members elected him captain and president of the club. He coached numerous club teams and guided hundreds of young people in the skills of the game.
"Dick was a good hurler with UCD and Glenmore which led to successes," Mr Hogan said.
"He continued his GAA involvement as a referee for many years after his playing days. His deep respect for Irish culture and language was displayed frequently by the spoken word and his participation at Eigse. These are just some of the highlights of the political, educational and sporting career of Dick Dowling.
"Personally, he was a good friend to me in good and bad times, for which i am grateful. My sympathy to Maureen and his family. They were the people that mattered most of all. Ar Dheis de go raibh a anam dilis."

To continue reading this article,
please subscribe and support local journalism!

Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles.

Subscribe

To continue reading this article for FREE,
please kindly register and/or log in.

Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites. You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news!

Register / Login

Most Popular

Multimedia

Sponsored Content

Local News

We've got Donegal Covered...

Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie

Buy a paper

Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.

Buy Now
Get the news

Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.

Register Here
Iconic Media is Ireland's largest independently owned regional newspaper and media group, with an unrivalled audience in print, online and mobile. We have 19 regional newspapers and 21 digital sites.

Iconic Digital Titles

  • Carlow Live
  • Clare Live
  • Derry Now
  • Donegal Live
  • Éire Bheo
  • Inish Live
  • Ireland Live
  • Kildare Live
  • Kildare Now
  • Kilkenny Live
  • Laois Live
  • Leitrim Live
  • Letterkenny Live
  • Limerick Live
  • Longford Live
  • Louth Live
  • Mayo Live
  • Nenagh Live
  • Offaly Live
  • Tipperary Live
  • Waterford Live

    • Iconic Print Titles

  • Clonmel Nationalist
  • County Derry Post
  • Derry News
  • Donegal Democrat
  • Donegal Post
  • Dundalk Democrat
  • Homes in Donegal
  • Inish Times
  • Kilkenny People
  • Leinster Express
  • Leinster Leader
  • Leitrim Observer
  • Letterkenny Live
  • Limerick Leader
  • Longford Leader
  • Mayo News
  • Midland Tribune
  • Tipperary Star
  • Tullamore Tribune

    • This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.

    © 2025 Iconic Media