HARROWING SCENES AS BODIES ARRIVE HOME
Harrowing scenes as bodies arrive home
THREE SCHOOLBOYS from Buncrana who went on a day trip to Omagh last Saturday returned home two nights later in coffins.
There were harrowing scenes as thousands of mourners lined the route from the border at Bridgend and through the streets of Buncrana holding candles.
The sorrowful cortege finally reached the mourning town shortly before 12.30 a.m.
Parish priest Fr. Joseph Carolan, who accompanied the grieving families to Omagh on Monday evening and joined their harrowing journey home, described the experience as 'very, very sad'.
"The coffins were opened for the family and it was just very, very hard for them", he said.
Men, women and children wept openly along the Main Street as the hearses carrying the remains of Oran Doherty (8), and Shaun McLaughlin (12) passed by in eerie silence.
Hundreds trailed up the hill in silence after the final car had passed, walking by the Green where the boys had played football with their pals.
Upwards on one thousand people gathered in silence in front of the two homes just four doors apart as the coffins were carried inside by distressed relatives.
All they could do was hold their candles, sob uncontrollably and shake their heads in disbelief.
An entire community stood numb with pain on a night, the awfulness of which will be forged forever on their minds.
There were no words left to be said. A local woman began a decade of the Rosary and everyone joined in.
One voice, one grief, one tiny community stricken in pain.
Out in Porthaw, there were similar scenes of desperate sadness as the Barker family brought their 12 year old son James home.
Now all that remains is the burial which will take place the morning. And the days and months of grief ahead.
THREE SCHOOLBOYS from Buncrana who went on a day trip to Omagh last Saturday returned home two nights later in coffins.
There were harrowing scenes as thousands of mourners lined the route from the border at Bridgend and through the streets of Buncrana holding candles.
The sorrowful cortege finally reached the mourning town shortly before 12.30 a.m.
Parish priest Fr. Joseph Carolan, who accompanied the grieving families to Omagh on Monday evening and joined their harrowing journey home, described the experience as 'very, very sad'.
"The coffins were opened for the family and it was just very, very hard for them", he said.
Men, women and children wept openly along the Main Street as the hearses carrying the remains of Oran Doherty (8), and Shaun McLaughlin (12) passed by in eerie silence.
Hundreds trailed up the hill in silence after the final car had passed, walking by the Green where the boys had played football with their pals.
Upwards on one thousand people gathered in silence in front of the two homes just four doors apart as the coffins were carried inside by distressed relatives.
All they could do was hold their candles, sob uncontrollably and shake their heads in disbelief.
An entire community stood numb with pain on a night, the awfulness of which will be forged forever on their minds.
There were no words left to be said. A local woman began a decade of the Rosary and everyone joined in.
One voice, one grief, one tiny community stricken in pain.
Out in Porthaw, there were similar scenes of desperate sadness as the Barker family brought their 12 year old son James home.
Now all that remains is the burial which will take place the morning. And the days and months of grief ahead.
Further Information
Publisher: DONEGAL PEOPLE'S PRESS
Ref: DP/007
Published Date: 19-Aug-98
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