DEVOTED MUM LAID TO REST WITH BABY MAURA
Devoted mum laid to rest with baby Maura
By Janet Devlin
THE people of Augher turned out in their hundreds today to pay their last respects to the village's Omagh bomb victims.
Bright sun shone over a small country church as two coffins, one large, one small, were gently borne to the altar.
In one lay 30-year-old Avril Monaghan,' in the other, nestling alongside, lay her 18-month-old daughter Maura.
In reality, the bombers had taken five lives from the one family - Avril was expecting twins.
And her mother, 65-year-old Mary Grimes, who was shopping with her family when the device exploded, died at the same time and will be buried tomorrow.
The family had thought they were safe from" the bombers when they took shelter in a clothes shop. Seconds after Mrs Grimes had bought a pair of trousers and a cardigan, a car outside S D Kells exploded, ending all their lives.
There was heartrending silence, broken only by" the sobs of grief-stricken relatives, as the cortege made its way into St Macartan's Church, two miles outside the village.
Avril and her family lived just over a mile away from the old stone chapel, in the peaceful rolling green hills of Co Tyrone.
An army of media, including Spanish journalists," also attended this first funeral of the Omagh outrage, although no cameras were allowed inside.
Parish Priest Father Laurence Dawson told the mourners the bomb must not be allowed to obscure the lives of Avril, her unborn twins and her 18-month-old daughter Maura.
He described Avril as being "always with her children".
In his introduction to the funeral mass, he said all of Clogher Valley had become a place of sorrow.
Father Dawson said: "Evil can be ahead for a time but the Resurrection gives sense to suffering and purpose to, pain."
By Janet Devlin
THE people of Augher turned out in their hundreds today to pay their last respects to the village's Omagh bomb victims.
Bright sun shone over a small country church as two coffins, one large, one small, were gently borne to the altar.
In one lay 30-year-old Avril Monaghan,' in the other, nestling alongside, lay her 18-month-old daughter Maura.
In reality, the bombers had taken five lives from the one family - Avril was expecting twins.
And her mother, 65-year-old Mary Grimes, who was shopping with her family when the device exploded, died at the same time and will be buried tomorrow.
The family had thought they were safe from" the bombers when they took shelter in a clothes shop. Seconds after Mrs Grimes had bought a pair of trousers and a cardigan, a car outside S D Kells exploded, ending all their lives.
There was heartrending silence, broken only by" the sobs of grief-stricken relatives, as the cortege made its way into St Macartan's Church, two miles outside the village.
Avril and her family lived just over a mile away from the old stone chapel, in the peaceful rolling green hills of Co Tyrone.
An army of media, including Spanish journalists," also attended this first funeral of the Omagh outrage, although no cameras were allowed inside.
Parish Priest Father Laurence Dawson told the mourners the bomb must not be allowed to obscure the lives of Avril, her unborn twins and her 18-month-old daughter Maura.
He described Avril as being "always with her children".
In his introduction to the funeral mass, he said all of Clogher Valley had become a place of sorrow.
Father Dawson said: "Evil can be ahead for a time but the Resurrection gives sense to suffering and purpose to, pain."
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0623
Published Date: 18-Aug-98
Related Images
