Creeslough tragedy victim James O'Flaherty to be laid to rest on Wednesday

The first funeral details for a victim of the Creeslough explosion have been confirmed.

James O’Flaherty, a 48-year old of Rinclevan, Dunfanaghy, will be laid to rest in Gweedore on Wednesday.

A native of Sydney, Australia, James was one of ten people to lose their lives when a gas explosion ripped through the Applegreen complex in Creeslough on Friday afternoon.

His Funeral Mass will be held St. Mary's Church, Derrybeg, on Wednesday at 11am, with internment afterwards in Magheragallon Cemetery.

Predeceased by his parents Brendan and Stella O'Flaherty, James is survived by his wife Tracey (née O'Donnell), son Hamish, brother John, sister-in-law Serena and children Amber and Ebony (O'Flaherty), mother-in-law and father-in-law Margaret and Patrick O'Donnell, brother-in-law Odhran O'Donnell and partner Megan, sister-in-law Joanne Devenney and her husband Brian and children Áiria, Seren & Raenah (Devenney).

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James’s remains will be brought from the Eternal Light Chapel of Rest, Mountain Top, Letterkenny on Monday to Roarty's Funeral Home, Derrybeg.

His remains will repose at the Funeral Home from 1pm to 8pm, with rosary at 8pm and again on Tuesday from 12.30pm to 5.30pm.

Removal afterwards to the family home in Dunfanaghy to repose overnight. The house private to family and close friends only.

The tight-knit community is bracing itself for the funerals of the ten people tragically killed in Friday’s blast.

Five-year-old Shauna Flanagan Garwe and her father, Robert Garwe (50) who was originally from Zimbabwe, Catherine O’Donnell (39) and her son James Monaghan (13) were among those killed.

The blast also claimed the lives of Jessica Gallagher (24), Martin McGill (49), Hugh Kelly (59), Martina Martin (49) and 14-year-old Leona Harper.

One male in his 20s remains in a critical condition in St. James Hospital, Dublin. 

Seven other surviving casualties continue to receive treatment in Letterkenny University Hospital and remain in stable condition.