One simple question reflected the horror experienced by the people of Creeslough as they gathered for the funeral of carer Martin McGill: “Can you take Communion twice in one day?”
For Martin’s was the second funeral in the town on Tuesday, and followed just three hours after the community said farewell to young fashion designer Jessica Gallagher.
Martin, 49, and Jessica, 24, and eight other people aged five to 59, died in an explosion that ripped through the Applegreen garage and adjourning apartments, in the Co Donegal town on October 7.
Read next: Youngest victim of Creeslough explosion found wrapped in her daddy's arms
Hundreds had gathered at 11am for Jessica and they gathered again at 2pm, this time for Martin, faces drawn, umbrellas and coats still damp from their journey to the morning service, knowing yet struggling to comprehend just what they were facing as the week unfolded.
As crowds collected along the roadside near St Michael’s Church ahead of the requiem mass, there were tears and handshakes, hugs and bowed heads.
But shortly before 2pm, the sound of a lone piper drifted on the breeze as Martin's coffin was taken from his home nearby, and those who had come to pay their respects stood a little taller as his mother Mary McGill led his cortege to the family church.
Martin was remembered with deep and gentle affection, as a “beautiful soul”, a man whose compassion and care for others led him to be a frequent visitor to the shop where he popped in on errands for neighbours who needed an item or two and where tragically he died.
Fr John Joe Duffy said: “Martin had a beautiful soul. He was a gentle soul, a person who you could just feel the goodness flowing out of.
"He was always praying for people, offering help and support to me and many others, and he lit more candles than even me. He prayed for so many. Martin just wanted to show he cared for you - and he did care.”
On the day he died, Martin had gone into the Applegreen garage to use the ATM when he was caught up in the devastating blast.
In his homily, Fr Duffy told mourners how Martin, a joiner, had been dedicated to caring for his beloved mother Mary, having returned from Scotland to Creeslough to be with her and his father Joe, in 2001.
He said: “Martin was a carer who was filled with love, filled with kindness and compassion.
“Despite the awful, horrible tragedy that has struck at the very heart of this community, and broken our hearts, from the very first moment aren’t those the key words that have been in action in this community but have always been in action in this community.
“Martin’s strength was in that he was a caring person and the fact that he was a caring person, a person of kindness and compassion, gave him strength when he had to face bereavement not very long ago when he had to say goodbye to his dad which was most difficult for him."
Martin was remembered with deep and gentle affection, his greatest loves recalled with tears and smiles; his mother Mary, his later father Joe, his love too for his friends and neighbours, for animals, for plants, and of course, his beloved team Celtic.
An impeccable minute's silence for Martin and the other victims was held at Parkhead in Glagow on Tuesday evening ahead of the club's Champions League tie with Leipzig.
Fr Duffy added: “He was an avid Celtic fan and would have been proud to know that his club had made a large donation to the Creeslough appeal fund and worn black armbands in memory of the victims.”
Martin was born in 1973 in Kirkintilloch, about eight miles north of Glasgow. He trained as a joiner and lived in Scotland until at 28, he made the decision to move to Creeslough where his parents had made their retirement home in their native Donegal.
From that time he settled into life as a natural friend and helper to many, looking after his late father Joe who died just months ago, and his mother Mary.
Fr Duffy said Joe McGill’s death was overwhelming for his son Martin, but he continued to look after his mother in her frailty and many others in the community despite his own heartache.
And while his heart lay firmly at home in Ireland, where he cherished the annual trips his sisters made, part of him remained deeply attached to Scotland, where he would travel to see his beloved Celtic play.
On Tuesday the kindness and devotion that had led Martin home to family and Donegal, the compassion that had supported so many in the last 21 years, was remembered as his greatest attribute as he was described as a “beautiful soul, a generous warm-hearted person who lived to help others”.
His funeral was attended by hundreds, by friends and relatives and by politicians and representatives of the emergency and voluntary services who attended the scene and worked day and night to try to save lives.
Fr Duffy asked the mourners to keep Mary McGill and her family in their prayers and revealed that Pope Francis had sent a personal message to Mrs McGill that he was praying for her.
Martin McGill was laid to rest at Doe Cemetery.
On Wednesday Catherine O’Donnell and her son James Monaghan will be laid to rest in a joint funeral while the burial of James O'Flaherty will also take place in Derrybeg.
Read next:
- Applegreen donates €50,000 to Creeslough victims fund
- Girl, 5, and dad killed in Creeslough explosion as more victims named
- Creeslough tragedy dead named as families and friends pay tribute
- Vigil for Creeslough victims to be held at Derry's Guildhall
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