Creeslough explosion teen victim 'was full of joy'

Mourners at the funeral for James O'Flaherty, one of the victims of the Creeslough explosion, heard he was an "amazing and capable man".

Catherine O'Donnell, 39, and her son James Monaghan, 13, were also buried in County Donegal on Wednesday.

The congregation heard she was bubbly and loved organising parties, while her son was full of life and joy.

Ten people were killed in Friday's explosion, which police said appears to have been a tragic accident.

James O'Flaherty was an engineer

Mr O'Flaherty, 48, was originally from Sydney in Australia, but was living with his wife Tracey and son Hamish in Dunfanaghy, a village about 10 minutes' drive from Creeslough.

Fr Brian O Fearraigh, speaking at St Mary's Church in Derrybeg, said Mr O'Flaherty lived for his wife Tracey and son Hamish.

"James showered his loving son and wife in hugs and kisses every day," he said.

"James O'Flaherty was a generous and a kind man. He loved chatting to other people and he just wanted to spend all his free time with you - his family.

"He had honesty and integrity in abundance.

"He was a man who had high morals which I'm told are traits and values that he shared with his late father."

The hearse carrying the coffin of James O'Flaherty makes its way to St Mary's Church in Derrybeg

Pupils from Hamish's school provided a guard of honour as his father's remains were brought into the church.

Gifts were presented at the beginning of the Mass, including a box of chocolates and a framed family photography.

A copy of Roald Dahl's Going Solo was also brought to the altar - father and son had been reading the book before the tragedy.

Addressing the congregation, 12-year-old Hamish urged mourners to "cherish" their families.

"Be grateful, for they won't be there forever… Use the time you have wisely," he said.

Mourners at the funeral of James O'Flaherty heard he was a great man who worked hard

Hamish described his father as a "great man", who worked "very hard and very long each day".

"He wore a jacket with a huge paint stain on the side of it everywhere. He managed this by leaning on a wall which was still wet with paint," he said.

"He wore the jacket everywhere. To the shops, to the movies, to the beach."

President Michael D Higgins attended both of the funeral services in County Donegal

The Irish president, Michael D Higgins, who was at both services on Wednesday, said: "It's a privilege to be able to share with communities who are going through so much.

"When something like this happens it isn't affecting just a family because everybody is so connected to everybody.

"Everybody knows everybody."

The president added that the international response to the tragedy showed "grief knows no borders".

An Garda Síochána (Irish police) continues to investigate the cause of the blast in a building complex that included a service station, convenience store and residential apartments.

The store, which included a post office, was the main shop serving the 400-strong village.

Embraces and hugs on a difficult day

By Davy Wilson, in Donegal

It is another difficult day in Donegal.

Outside St Mary's Church in Derrybeg, mourners greet one another, embrace and hug.

In this tranquil Irish speaking part of the county, they gather for the funeral of James O'Flaherty.

Among them, uniformed children from Faugher National School, where Mr O'Flaherty's son Hamish had been a pupil: a guard of honour to meet the cortege and welcome President Higgins.

It is a large crowd that has come to Donegal's Gaeltacht (Irish speaking) area for a Mass conducted in Irish and English.

Many here will have travelled this morning through the Poisoned Glen, an area of natural beauty that belies its name.

Many have made the journey now to Creeslough for the funeral Mass for Catherine O'Donnell, and her son James.

On the way into this village so devastated by Friday's explosion, some stood silently at the roadside as two coffins, as a mother and son, passed by.

Many more lined Creeslough's Main Street.

Outside St Michael's, the community stands side by side again.

So many who were here on Tuesday are here again, as a village continues to mourn.

Read more here.

The congregation heard Catherine was "bubbly" and that James was "full of life and joy"

Catherine and James were in the queue for the post office when the explosion happened.

They had gone there after the 13-year-old had finished school for the day.

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At their funeral in Creeslough, Fr John Joe Duffy told James's classmates: "James was full of devilment, wasn't he? And full of life and joy.

"That's what he would want boys and girls. He would want that joy and that life in you, and to value your life and always do well in life."

The priest added: "He was just a child taxiing down the runway about to take off into his teenage years. He was just about to launch into life.

"It is no wonder, under such circumstances, that words fail us this afternoon."

The congregation heard Catherine was "bubbly", a "glam lady" who loved to shop.

"She was very intelligent and she loved parties," Fr Duffy told mourners. "She loved organising parties."

"She was a loving mother, a loving partner, a loving daughter and one who was much, much loved."

'A gift to the world'

Fr Duffy said the village of Creeslough had shown the power of community when dealing with tragedy.

"Creeslough, maybe, out of all of this suffering and pain, had given a gift to the rest of the world... A new understanding of what it means to be community," he said.

"The strength of our people in tragedy has set a template for the world about how in the midst of the greatest pain and grief we are strongest when we rely on each other, support one another."

On Tuesday, Masses were held at St Michael's Church in the village for Jessica Gallagher, 24, and 49-year-old Martin McGill.

Mourners at Ms Gallagher's funeral were told that she would be remembered for the "ripples of love, affection and warmth" she left behind.

Mr McGill was described as having a "beautiful, gentle soul".

The funerals of two other victims - 14-year-old Leona Harper and 49-year-old Martina Martin - will take place on Thursday, while Hugh Kelly, 59, will be laid to rest on Friday.

The two remaining victims were 50-year-old Robert Garwe and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe.