OLYMPIC medallist Freddie Gilroy has left a "legacy of a great sportsman and a wonderful human being", a priest has told mourners at his funeral.
The Ardoyne man, who died aged 80 on Tuesday, was buried at Milltown Cemetery following Requiem Mass at Holy Cross Church yesterday.
Faces from the world of boxing, including fellow Olympic medallist Hugh Russell and former world champion Eamonn Magee, attended the funeral.
Fr Eugene McCarthy told mourners that the champion boxer "cherished the gospel of Christ."
He said: "Those who knew Freddie well in this life will know that he was tested...tested very strongly and for the most part he overcame his difficulties even if that took a good part of his life."
Fr McCarthy spoke of the "great days" when Gilroy won the bronze medal for Ireland in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne while a member of the St John Bosco club.
He said: "We loved them and we loved all who brought so much joy to us in this small nation. They all boxed, in the real sense, above their weight.
"However I am not sure whether we can say whether boxing was good to Freddie. We wonder whether, if he had to do it again, if he would take the same path. Even with all his regrets I think he would have done it again."
The Holy Cross priest said that the Lonsdale belt winner had lived a "very quiet life" in later years with wife Bernadette and was a regular attendee at Sunday Mass.
Fr McCarthy said: "He has left us with many lovely memories. By his own admission he didn't get everything right but his heart, in my view, was in the right place.
"He leaves behind a legacy of a great sportsman and a wonderful human being, who was able to reach out to others. We have had calls from various people, many regretting their absence here today."
Gilroy was the first Irishman to capture the Lonsdale belt, the oldest championship belt in boxing, which required three successful title defences.
However, his belt went missing in the mid-1980s and was never found.
Last year the fighter's brother Tommy made an appeal for its return after being approached by a man who claimed he had held the belt in a house in north Belfast.
