Brother Denis Kerins, who died peacefully on Easter Sunday after a long illness, was a calm, considerate and gentle person who made a major contribution to the lives of all with whom he came into contact. This was especially true of his contribution to the wellbeing of the many persons with a learning disability whose lives he touched both through his personal engagement and his high quality leadership.
Br. Denis was born in Gneeveguilla near Rathmore in the heart of Sliabh Luachra in Co Kerry in 1944, a heritage of which he was very proud. Having attended primary and second level schooling locally he joined the Congregation of the Brothers of Charity in August 1962 where he made First Profession as a Brother of Charity in August of 1964. Br Denis qualified as a Psychiatric Nurse at Belmont Park, Waterford in 1967 and completed a further three year course of training at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Rochestown Avenue, Dun Laoghaire to become an Occupational Therapist in 1970. While completing his studies in Rochestown Avenue, Br. Denis took Final Profession as a Brothers of Charity in 1969.
In 1970 Br. Denis became the first Occupational Therapist to work in the Brothers of Charity Services at Gattonside House, Melrose in the Scottish Borders where he became Leader of the Religious Community two years later. During his time at Gattonside House, between 1970 and 1981, Br. Denis provided a calm, unassuming but inspiring and professional leadership of the services for adults with a learning disability. In addition to the many other innovations he introduced, he established a highly respected OT Department which provided training placements for students from the University of Edinburgh and brought a new professional dimension to the supports provided to the adults in the services. However he was always a team player, convinced that little could be achieved without respect for the contribution of each team member whatever their role might be. He emphasised too the quality of the relationships in the lives of those supported by the services, promoting at the same time, a sense of respect and self-reliance. On relocating to the services of the Brothers at Lisieux Hall near Preston in Lancashire in 1981, Br. Denis continued the same fine tradition. In challenging and changing times and in a service that was larger and expanding, he continued to lead successfully and inspirationally, supported by his religious community and by the well-motivated staff team, until his retirement.
Br. Denis was a major contributor to the spiritual life and mission of the Congregation of the Brothers of Charity, as Leader of the Religious Community and of the Services, as a Provincial Councillor and as a Trustee/Board Director in the services provided by the Brothers and their thousands of staff colleagues in Ireland and Britain. His contribution was firmly based on fidelity to the Gospel message and to the inspiration of the Founder, Peter Triest, who believed that God is Love and that it is through the richness and quality of the relationships in our lives that we come to know and love God and each other more each day.
Where he and the teams he led have gone before it is most heartening to note that so many people working in the Brothers of Charity Services in Britain and Ireland continue in the same noble tradition. For this the Brothers are eternally grateful to God and to each of the staff members involved, at every level, in carrying out the mission of the Congregation today. He will be sadly missed by his Sisters and Brother, his Aunt Mary, his Aunt in Law Eileen, nieces, nephews, friends, his Religious Community and his colleagues in the services of the Brothers of Charity at home and abroad. May his gentle soul rest in peace together with his late sister Mary and his loving parents Humphrey and Nora.
