RATHMULLAN PRIEST RECALLS OMAGH MASSACRE
Rathmullan priest recalls Omagh massacre
By Harry Walsh
RATHMULLAN born priest, home on holiday from the missions in South Africa, was in Omagh last Saturday afternoon when the bomb exploded at the junction of Market Street and the Dublin Road.
Fr Eddie Deeney, SMA, who is based in Pretoria had been on his way home to Rathmullan from the SMA Headquarters at Dromantine, Newry, when he stopped off in the Royal Arms Hotel in Omagh for a cup of tea.
Nothing could have prepared him for an atrocity which left twenty-eight people dead and led to horrific casualties.
Fr Deeney administered the last rites to many of the dying casualties and remained in Omagh until Sunday evening.
"I saw a lot of people sit-ting on walls as I walked towards the town centre and it never dawned on me that there was a bomb scare until I was stopped by two policemen who told me that they were investigating a bomb warning 'up the town'," Fr Deeney said.
No one appeared to be worried and hundreds of people had moved into the Market Street area.
Fr Deeney, meanwhile, who spent three years in Newry in the early seventies had moved into a back street when he heard a violent explosion.
A 5001b bomb had just exploded in a Vauxhall Cavalier at the junction of Market Street and the Dublin Road. The time was 3.10 pm and, for a few seconds, there was an eerie silence followed by piercing screams.
Returning to the Main Street area in the belief that no-one had been injured by the explosion, Fr Deeney said that he wasn't prepared for the scene of devastation he was to witness.
"There were people running everywhere covered in blood. I was talking to an injured person when I was asked to move further down the street. I had moved about thirty yards when I came across six bodies lying on the pavement," Fr Deeney said.
"The explosion had burst the water mains and water flows over the bodies on the road. They were carried to the pavement but the terrible expression of hurt on one young girl's face is still etched on my mind. There was consternation all around," he added.
Fr Deeney administered the Last Rites to the dead and dying who had been lifted to the side of the road before he was joined by Fr Brian Donnelly and Fr Donal Gillespie.
Fr Gillespie and Fr Deeney, classmates at St Eunan's College in Letterkenny in the fifties, later went to the Tyrone County Hospital where the scenes were just as traumatic.
"There was a sense of utter confusion. People were desperate for news about relatives. They knew that their loved ones were missing but they found it impossible to get any more information.
"The medical staff carried out trojan work, trying their best to stabilise the injured which remained their number one priority throughout the night " Fr Deeney said.
Shortly after midnight Fr Deeney was asked to go to the nearby Leisure Centre where a list of the dead and injured had been posted on the notice board. For some families there is relief, for others their worst nightmare had been realised.
Fr Deeney returned to the Leisure Centre on Sunday morning.
"One family told me that the only way they were able to positively identify their relative was through their car key. It's not a time for words. All I could do was to be with them as words seemed out of place," Fr Deeney said.
Three weeks ago Fr Deeney was hailed, as a hero after he dived into the River Liffey to save a young man from drowning yet on this occasion he felt so helpless.
The Rathmullan priest returned to Donegal on Sunday evening still clearly shocked by the events in Omagh thirty six hours earlier. His brother Jim is the owner of the Pier Hotel in Rathmullan. He hopes to remain in Donegal until early October when he returns to South Africa.
By Harry Walsh
RATHMULLAN born priest, home on holiday from the missions in South Africa, was in Omagh last Saturday afternoon when the bomb exploded at the junction of Market Street and the Dublin Road.
Fr Eddie Deeney, SMA, who is based in Pretoria had been on his way home to Rathmullan from the SMA Headquarters at Dromantine, Newry, when he stopped off in the Royal Arms Hotel in Omagh for a cup of tea.
Nothing could have prepared him for an atrocity which left twenty-eight people dead and led to horrific casualties.
Fr Deeney administered the last rites to many of the dying casualties and remained in Omagh until Sunday evening.
"I saw a lot of people sit-ting on walls as I walked towards the town centre and it never dawned on me that there was a bomb scare until I was stopped by two policemen who told me that they were investigating a bomb warning 'up the town'," Fr Deeney said.
No one appeared to be worried and hundreds of people had moved into the Market Street area.
Fr Deeney, meanwhile, who spent three years in Newry in the early seventies had moved into a back street when he heard a violent explosion.
A 5001b bomb had just exploded in a Vauxhall Cavalier at the junction of Market Street and the Dublin Road. The time was 3.10 pm and, for a few seconds, there was an eerie silence followed by piercing screams.
Returning to the Main Street area in the belief that no-one had been injured by the explosion, Fr Deeney said that he wasn't prepared for the scene of devastation he was to witness.
"There were people running everywhere covered in blood. I was talking to an injured person when I was asked to move further down the street. I had moved about thirty yards when I came across six bodies lying on the pavement," Fr Deeney said.
"The explosion had burst the water mains and water flows over the bodies on the road. They were carried to the pavement but the terrible expression of hurt on one young girl's face is still etched on my mind. There was consternation all around," he added.
Fr Deeney administered the Last Rites to the dead and dying who had been lifted to the side of the road before he was joined by Fr Brian Donnelly and Fr Donal Gillespie.
Fr Gillespie and Fr Deeney, classmates at St Eunan's College in Letterkenny in the fifties, later went to the Tyrone County Hospital where the scenes were just as traumatic.
"There was a sense of utter confusion. People were desperate for news about relatives. They knew that their loved ones were missing but they found it impossible to get any more information.
"The medical staff carried out trojan work, trying their best to stabilise the injured which remained their number one priority throughout the night " Fr Deeney said.
Shortly after midnight Fr Deeney was asked to go to the nearby Leisure Centre where a list of the dead and injured had been posted on the notice board. For some families there is relief, for others their worst nightmare had been realised.
Fr Deeney returned to the Leisure Centre on Sunday morning.
"One family told me that the only way they were able to positively identify their relative was through their car key. It's not a time for words. All I could do was to be with them as words seemed out of place," Fr Deeney said.
Three weeks ago Fr Deeney was hailed, as a hero after he dived into the River Liffey to save a young man from drowning yet on this occasion he felt so helpless.
The Rathmullan priest returned to Donegal on Sunday evening still clearly shocked by the events in Omagh thirty six hours earlier. His brother Jim is the owner of the Pier Hotel in Rathmullan. He hopes to remain in Donegal until early October when he returns to South Africa.
Further Information
Publisher: DERRY PEOPLE DONEGAL NEWS
Ref: DPDN/006
Published Date: 21-Aug-98
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