Seamus O'Donnell

Seamus O'Donnell died overnight before the morning of 29 September 2026. Local station WLR FM reported the death that day, and Waterford Sinn Fein TD Conor McGuinness and Fine Gael councillor Damien Geoghegan were among those who paid public tribute. No cause of death or confirmed age has been published in those first reports. Funeral arrangements were to be confirmed through Drohan Funeral Directors, Emmet Street, Dungarvan, County Waterford.

Seamus O'Donnell was from An tSean Phobal (Old Parish) in the west Waterford Gaeltacht, an area also linked in tributes to An Rinn. Public reports place him as a long-time resident of that rural community rather than of Waterford city. Detailed published accounts of his schooling and early working life remain thin; what is clear is that he was rooted in Seana Phobal life long before he won a council seat, and that neighbours and fellow politicians treated him as a local figure first.

O'Donnell contested Waterford local elections repeatedly before succeeding. After earlier association with Fianna Fail he stood as an Independent and was elected to Waterford City and County Council for Dungarvan-Lismore in 2014, winning again in 2019. He lost the seat in 2024. During his terms he raised local issues affecting west Waterford, including housing provision in Sean Phobal and community infrastructure, and served on the council's Transportation and Infrastructure Strategic Policy Committee. Colleagues described him as hard-working and loyal to his constituents.

He was known affectionately as Seamusin. Tributes after his death referred to his wife, his sons and the wider O'Donnell clan. Fine Gael councillor Damien Geoghegan recalled coffees before council meetings that mixed serious talk with banter, including about "John Paul's", a glimpse of the friendships that surrounded his public role. He remained closely identified with An tSean Phobal and An Rinn.

O'Donnell is remembered as a community-minded Independent councillor who gave a decade of service to Dungarvan-Lismore and spoke for Gaeltacht west Waterford. Tributes stressed warmth, humour and loyalty rather than high office. For many in An tSean Phobal and on Waterford City and County Council he remains a familiar neighbour and colleague whose public work was inseparable from local life.