Speaking to Agriland, his wife Kate said he was very passionate about dairy farming but also had great knowledge on tillage farming, with an interest in suckler farming, looking at genetics and animal health.

“Every evening after his full-time job he was back home milking cows, farming was his first love,” Kate added.

Kate remembered that “even the day after brain surgery, I heard him milking the cows and just couldn’t believe it. Denis loved nothing more than milking the cows”.

“One thing he used to say was that, when he was helping on the farm, he would forget he was sick.”

Speaking to Agriland, Kate said she loved nothing more than jumping up in the tractor with him or going for walks through the farm.

“That was definitely where he was at his happiest,” she said.

Cancer research

Denis was diagnosed with Gliobastoma, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer in June 2020.

Kate recalls seeking access to clinical trials and how shocked the couple was realising how little research funding goes into this form of cancer in Ireland.

“I’m thankful that it happened swiftly in the end and Denis never had to be told that there is no more hope,” his wife Kate said.

“More investment needs to be put into new brain cancer treatments so that no one else has to go through this in the future.”

When he was feeling better, Denis said that he wanted to do something to raise money, he talked about maybe auctioning off one cow. Kate explained that she then wanted to run with something bigger.

A financial contribution to the Denis Canniffe Memorial Fundraiser can be made via idonate.ie/deniscanniffemartday.