Ten bells puncture the silence as Creeslough remembers and reflects

At 3.17pm, Creeslough hushed.

Under darkened skies, families huddled together, the embraces tightening as the time came.

Birds sang and cameras clicked as the heads of around 1,500 people bowed in unison to remember the 10 victims of the Creeslough explosion.

A year ago, the until-then sleepy village in north Donegal flashed around the world. Ten people lost their lives when a gas explosion tore through the Applegreen complex, which housed a filling station, convenience shop, butcher, post office, a hair salon and apartments.

Creeslough curate Fr John Joe Duffy, who anointed the dead and attended ten funerals this week last year, read the names: James O”Flaherty, Jessica Gallagher, Martin McGill, Catherine O’Donnell, James Monaghan, Hugh Kelly, Martina Martin, Robert Garwe, Shauna Flanagan Garwe, Leona Harper.

Church of Ireland Minister David Skuce rang a bell ten times; once for each life lost. The bell was blessed by Fr Paddy Dunne and will be stored in St Michael’s Church before being moved to another ‘appropriate location when the time is right’.

Families laid wreaths and flowers at the scene of the site. So, too, did John O’Doherty, the principal of Scoil Mhuire National School, where five-year-old Shauna Flanagan Garwe had just started school a little more than a month before the explosion.

The complex on the N56 is now boarded up now with a tribute to its front. Ten candles flicker in a glass case behind a floral tribute of ten yellow roses, a flower that represents friendship and love.

“We have been carrying each other, the families of those bereaved holding onto each other, holding onto those around them,” Fr Duffy said. “Those who died will be forever in our hearts. We will always hold them in our hearts.”

Fr Martin Doohan lays a wreath at the scene of the explosion. (North West Newspix)

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar sent a message to Fr Duffy for the local community, described as ‘very sincere words’.

Fr Duffy praised the civic, emergency and voluntary services and organisations who rushed to the aid of Creeslough and its people a year ago. “They were truly Christ’s hands,” he said. 

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue TD represented the government with Deputies Joe McHugh, Pearse Doherty and Padraig Mac Lochlainn also in attendance.

Representatives from the Fire Service, including Donegal’s Chief Fire Officer Joseph McTaggart and Assistant Chief Fire Officer Michael Scott and other rescue workers who assisted in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy were present.

Leading members of An Garda Siochana, the Ambulance Service, the Irish Coastguard and the K9 Search and Rescue unit, including rescue dog Max, who helped in last October’s operation, were in Creeslough.

Fr Duffy asked for prayers for the deceased, their families and all those who were recovering from injuries sustained in the blast, some of whom were among the large crowd. He recalls those who had lost their homes and livelihoods as a result of the explosion and prayed for thanksgiving for the people who came to help on the day.

“Your presence is comforting and soothing,” Fr Duffy said. “It brought a new definition to the greatness of humanity, of people working hand-in-hand. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.”

Some of the bereaved families at a memorial service to mark the first anniversary of the Creeslough explosion. (North West Newspix) 

Many of those first responders, including St Johnston truck driver Colin Kilpatrick - who organised the Trucking For Creeslough fundraiser - returned to Creeslough for Saturday’s service.

Fr Martin Doohan, the parish priest of Dunfanaghy, laid a floral tribute at the site of the tragedy and a message was read from Bishop of Raphoe, Alan McGuckian SJ, who is in Rome and said he was with the people of Creeslough in spirit.

Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry and Raphoe Alan Forster said the last year had shown ‘the best of people’ and the large number of clergy included some Capuchin Brothers from the nearby Ards Friary.

The President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, who attended funerals of eight of the ten having flown back from the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and who later visited the bereaved families, also sent a message of support.

“Having had the privilege of sharing the incredible grief that was visited on the people of Creeslough a year ago, I want to wish them success with all the resilience they have shown and need,” President Higgins said.

“It is so appropriate that this occasion is being remembered as a great tribute not only to those who were lost, but to the community that had held them at its heart.”

Fr Duffy drew on the words of legendary poet Seamus Heaney. On his deathbed, Heaney text two words to his wife, Marie, in Latin: ’Noli timere’. Don’t be afraid.

The scars will remain in Creeslough, but its people stay strong.