BIRTHDAY SONG BRINGS PRIEST CLOSE TO TEARS
Birthday song brings priest close to tears
By Ciaran McGuigan
in Beragh
MORE than 1,000 mourners gathered at the Church of the Immaculate Conception yesterday as the people of Beragh paid their last respects to Mary Grimes.
Those who could not find space in the small church on the outskirts of the village, about eight miles from Omagh, crowded under umbrellas in the church grounds.
It was a sign of the tiny village's close-knit community when the priest conducting the sermon should be the murdered woman's brother-in-law.
Mary Grimes died, along with her daughter Avril and grand-daughter Maura, while shopping in Omagh on the day of her 66th birthday.
And in an emotional sermon Fr James Grimes described how he had nearly broken down only hours before the funeral after hearing the song Mick Grimes had written for his wife on her birthday.
"I nearly broke down this morning in the house when Mick gave me a poem he had written for Mary's 66th birthday.
"And he put it into song and when I heard it it gave me an idea of the great love that existed between Mary and Mick.
He added that Saturday's bomb would only serve to push those committed to peace closer together.
"The terrible act of murder carried out in Omagh on Saturday would only have the effect to bring peace-loving and god-loving people together once again to show that this crime was utterly evil and totally unacceptable."
The Archbishop of Armagh Dr Sean Brady called on the bombers to listen to the revulsion that had been expressed in the aftermath of the bomb and end their campaign of violence permanently.
"If those responsible will not listen to the voice of the ballot box, let them at least listen to the voice of revulsion expressed so clearly, so powerfully and so consistently.
"Let them listen to the voice of their own conscience and ask: Is this the kind of person I really want to be and are the kind of values I wish to live by?
"Let them answer those questions honestly and end this senseless campaign of violence permanently now."
The mourners, including a coachload from Mary Grimes' birth-place of Cork, were joined by Fermanagh /South Tyrone MP Ken Maginnis, Dr Rory O'Hanlon TD, and concert promoter Jim Aitken.
By Ciaran McGuigan
in Beragh
MORE than 1,000 mourners gathered at the Church of the Immaculate Conception yesterday as the people of Beragh paid their last respects to Mary Grimes.
Those who could not find space in the small church on the outskirts of the village, about eight miles from Omagh, crowded under umbrellas in the church grounds.
It was a sign of the tiny village's close-knit community when the priest conducting the sermon should be the murdered woman's brother-in-law.
Mary Grimes died, along with her daughter Avril and grand-daughter Maura, while shopping in Omagh on the day of her 66th birthday.
And in an emotional sermon Fr James Grimes described how he had nearly broken down only hours before the funeral after hearing the song Mick Grimes had written for his wife on her birthday.
"I nearly broke down this morning in the house when Mick gave me a poem he had written for Mary's 66th birthday.
"And he put it into song and when I heard it it gave me an idea of the great love that existed between Mary and Mick.
He added that Saturday's bomb would only serve to push those committed to peace closer together.
"The terrible act of murder carried out in Omagh on Saturday would only have the effect to bring peace-loving and god-loving people together once again to show that this crime was utterly evil and totally unacceptable."
The Archbishop of Armagh Dr Sean Brady called on the bombers to listen to the revulsion that had been expressed in the aftermath of the bomb and end their campaign of violence permanently.
"If those responsible will not listen to the voice of the ballot box, let them at least listen to the voice of revulsion expressed so clearly, so powerfully and so consistently.
"Let them listen to the voice of their own conscience and ask: Is this the kind of person I really want to be and are the kind of values I wish to live by?
"Let them answer those questions honestly and end this senseless campaign of violence permanently now."
The mourners, including a coachload from Mary Grimes' birth-place of Cork, were joined by Fermanagh /South Tyrone MP Ken Maginnis, Dr Rory O'Hanlon TD, and concert promoter Jim Aitken.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0111
Published Date: 20-Aug-98
Related Images
