'There has been a universal outpouring of support, prayerful support' - Fr Pat O'Hagan

The funerals of John Mullan (49), his daughter Amelia (6) and her brother Tomás (14) have taken place in St Pius X Church, Moville, Inishowen.

Requiem Mass was concelebrated by Fr Pat O'Hagan PP, Moville and six “brother priests.”

John, a well-known local businessman, the owner Moville Garden Centre, Tómas and Amelia, died on Thursday night past, when the car in which they were travelling, skidded of the road and plunged into Lough Foyle.

John's wife, Geraldine, the mother of the Tomás and Amelia, was the sole survivor of the accident. Ms Mullan is a highly regarded Nurse in the Oncology team at Letterkenny University Hospital.

Mrs Mullan (née Connaughton) delivered a heart-rending Eulogy to her husband and children at today's emotional ceremony. She was comforted by her family, who travelled to Moville from her home town of Williamstown, County Galway, and the Mullan family.

Members of the Mullan and Connaughton families also gave eulogies for John, Tómas and Amelia, before gifts and symbols representing each of them were brought to the altar.

In his Homily, Fr O'Hagan, his voice occasionally breaking, said: “The readings that we have just heard were chosen, very carefully chosen, to reflect at least some of the things that are uppermost in our minds and our hearts today: Family life, family love, faith, particularly in the face of tragedy.

“And some of the questions that we all have, all of us, in the aftermath of the events of last Thursday evening, events that have overwhelmed us and left us reeling with a sense of shock and unbelief, and with the sadness and grief that is palpable here in this Parish community, nowhere more so than in the heart of Geraldine Mullan.

“There has been a universal outpouring of support, prayerful support for you Geraldine, for the Mullan and the Connaughton families and when I say universal, I mean that. Messages from across the county, from across the country, I have received messages of prayers and support from England, Italy, Nigeria, Brazil and Australia. And, doubtless, other people have received messages of sympathy and prayers and support from many other people, in many other places.

“There has been a huge outpouring of love, especially for you Geraldine, in your loss. And if support and sympathy and love could take away your pain, then you would be pain free.

“If they could take all of this away, then we would not be here right now. But they can't, so we find ourselves here, doing the last thing we would want to do, if only we could chose.

“We are here in this Church of St Pius X in Moville, offering Mass for John, Tomás and Amelia and we are praying with and for Geraldine and all of those of us who feel, at least, some of her pain.

“So what do those readings we have just heard say to us? How can they, to some degree begin to try to help us to make some sense of this horrendous tragedy? Or help us to move forward, without forgetting what has happened or those who have been o cruelly taken from us, well before their time?

“Because we will never forget, John, Tómas and Amelia, who they were and what they meant to those of us who were privileged and blessed to have known them.

“We will never forget the events of last Thursday night. We will never be able to make sense of them by ourselves. We will never be able to move forward by ourselves.

“So, we come here today to pray, to listen to God's word, believing that Jesus is here among us because he promised that: 'Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among you.'

“And Jesus is here. He walked in here with us this morning. You might think it is your dad's arm around you, Geraldine, but it is Jesus holding you tenderly. And he is in the heart of each one of us who are here in this Church, those who are standing outside and those who are following this Mass.

“He is up here with my colleagues in the Sanctuary and he is with me. He is powerfully present in his word and in the Eucharist, in Holy Communion.

“I hear him telling us to reflect for a moment on the importance of family, family life, the joys and sorrows, the ups and downs, the times when we need to forgive or ask for forgiveness.

“But above all today, he wants us to think only of the love we find only within the circle of our own family, the love of a husband and wife, the love of parents and children, the love of brothers and sisters. The things that we have seen and know to have been part and parcel of the life of the Mullan family. Attending Mass, unforgettable holidays and trips together, including New York and Dubai to name just two.

“All those days of this lockdown summer when Tomás took great care of Amelia. All the times when I and many others saw them down along the shore, happy to be together, as close and loving in life as they were in death and now in Eternal Life.

“Jesus wants us to look into our own hearts and ask ourselves, 'Are we the people St Paul had in mind, people who are certain, unlike those who have no hope. Are we people who believe in Jesus as our risen Lord and Saviour and who believe in our own resurrection from the dead into everlasting life and everlasting happiness?

"Jesus would want us to reflect on the value and importance of faith. How valuable and important it is to us each and every day, particularly at a time like this. How faith can shape and influence everything we say and do. How we react to the things that happen. How they shape our interactions with one another, at work or play, in the home and outside of it. He wants us to be certain and to use our faith to comfort one another. 

"The Connaughton's and the Mullan's are families of faith, coming from places of faith, homes of prayer and faith. As I said a moment ago, John, Tómas and Amelia, along with Geraldine worshipped regularly at Mass, here in this Church, where we are gathered today. For probably four years, Tómas served as an Altar Boy, always turning up when he was on rota, quiet and unassuming, but diligent and punctual and always ready and willing to do whatever might have been asked of him. 

"And when he graduated from Scoil Eoghain to Moville Community College, he left his Altar Serving days behind him but joined his Mum, Dad and sister in that seat down there where they always sat. Fr John McLaughlin here behind me told me a lovely story. It was maybe Good Friday 2018. And he was sitting behind you Geraldine, behind the four of you, just down there, following the Service for Good Friday afternoon. Amelia would only have been four or thereabouts She did not understand what was going on because it wasn't the same as a regular Mass, so Geraldine took her on her knee and started explaining and singing to her, helping her to follow it and helping her to understand what was going on. So, no matter what I was doing up here, Fr John was not listening to me, he was listening to a mother instructing her child, a moment of pure Catechesis, doing what she had promised to do on the day of her daughter's Baptism, being one of the first teachers of her child in the ways of faith.

"I knew Amelia as simply a little girl, typical of her age, sometime quiet but more times bubbly is the word I would use. Always enjoying whatever she was doing, getting on well at school, making friends, the things that little girls do and wanting all the pink things that little girls want. 

"John met and fell in love with Geraldine when Geraldine was nursing his late mother, Philomena, who as we know died ten years to the day before John, Tómas and Amelia. That date is forever etched, not just in the Mullan family, but now in the minds and hearts of the Connaughton family too. 

"John and Geraldine became totally devoted to each other. As husband and wife, and as we have heard already, as best friends. But also, totally dedicated to their children, as good, honest, hardworking parents, bringing their children up and teaching them by the good example to be good people and people of faith in their own town.

"There are many people nowadays who have drifted away from faith, drifted away from the practice of faith and who come to God only when they feel they need God's presence. Or many who would class an occasion like this to tell us there is no God or if there is a God, that God is cruel, heartless, and unfeeling. 

"That's not the God Geraldine Mullan believes in. It is not the God I believe in. I do believe in God. I believe in the God of love and mercy. I believe in a God who cares for each and everyone of us. I believe that, as St Paul tells us, 'Nothing, nothing at all can come between us and the love of God for us.'

"I believe that God loved the poor, the needy, the sick and the sorrowful, the bereaved and the broken hearted. That's the God I believe in. I believe in Jesus Christ as my risen Lord and Saviour. I believes that he loves me and he loves you too. Whoever, wherever and however you are today and if we could see him, if we could touch him, if we could speak to him, right here, right now, we'd see hime weeping, as he wept at the death of his good friend Lazarus. 

"And, I believe that when he would wipe away his own tears, he would wipe away our tears too. He might say simply, as he said on so many occasions, 'Do not be afraid. Only have faith. 

"I believe in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, who we will be invoking on Saturday, here in this Church when the children of last year's Sixth Class receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, which had been scheduled to take place in May. 

"I believe, as we read in Scripture, the Holy Spirit comes to help us in our weakness. The Holy Spirit prays in us and through us when we cannot pray for ourselves or cannot find the words to express exactly how we are feeling. 

"We need the powerful presence of God's Holy Spirit today. Today above all days because there are so many things that we simply cannot understand, so many words that we simply cannot find, so many prayers that we find it so hard to say. 

"My prayer is, 'Come Holy Spirit fill the hearts, the broken hearts of your faithful but sad and sorrowful children, especially our sister Geraldine, the Mullan and Connaughton families, all those who knew John, Tómas and Amelia. Come close to them, comfort them, and those who knew and worked with John, his many clients at the garden centre and his many friends. We ask you Holy Spirit to be gentle with the friends and classmates of Tómas and Amelia, their teachers, and all those who spent time with them in their many extracurricular activities, their music, their dancing their scouting and many, many more.

"St Paul tells us in the First Letter to the Corinthians, that there are three things that last: Faith Hope and Love. We need all three today. 

"Geraldine and all those in mourning today will need Faith, Hope and Love as time goes on. So, we ask almighty God to mend the hearts that are broken. To mend them with faith in him and his love for us, to mend them with hope, not just for eternity, but for the here and now, today and everyday from this day onwards. We ask him to heal the broken hearts with love, with love that will be a palpable as the grief and sorrow we feel today and it will help us, in some little ways, hopefully, to reassure Geraldine, that, 'You are not alone.' You are here today and everyday, surrounded by the love of God, made visible in the person of Christ Jesus and made concrete in the hugs, kisses and words of comfort and reassurance of family neighbours and friends.

"As we heard in the Second Reading, with the thoughts of faith and hope and love that we have, let us comfort you, Geraldine, and comfort one another."

Following Requiem Mass, John, Tómas and Amelia were interred in the adjoining cemetery.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha.