Creeslough victim Hugh Kelly had just beaten cancer, funeral hears

Hugh Kelly was born in 1962, the youngest of five.

Creeslough blast victim Hugh Kelly had been told the cancer he was fighting was in remission just weeks before he was killed last Friday.

Mourners at the 59-year-old’s funeral service at St Michael’s Church in Creeslough heard he got the good news following a check-up three weeks ago. Chief celebrant Fr John Joe Duffy said, to knowing looks and smiles from mourners, “he had his fair share of close scrapes”.

They were reminded he was born in 1962, the youngest of five. In his youth, Fr Duffy said, Hugh was a bit of a daredevil and was known for his exploits on his bike on a particular coastal wall.

Mourners again smiled when they heard the priest remind them that, while living in London, he sent a parrot back to his home in nearby Doe, Co. Donegal. Symbols of his life included a pot of blackberry jam as an example of his patience and dedication to picking blackberries and making jam.

They also included a picture of him in a cornfield, “in happier times”, and a picture of his granddaughter Rosie, who he adored. A jewellery box was also brought up, to symbolise how he could turn his hand to anything.

“He could turn his hand to everything and always gave 100%,” Fr Duffy said.

The last of the eight funerals will take place tomorrow. This will be for Robert Garwe and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe.

She had been in the supermarket by the Applegreen filling station when the explosion in an apartment above the shop went off. Robert, 50, was found clutching his daughter in his arms. Shauna’s uncle Killian Flanagan has said she was “wrapped in her daddy’s care”.

A total of 10 people were killed in the blast, which is still being investigated by gardaí.

Those who died were remembered at this morning's service - Leona Harper, Martin McGill, Martina Martin, Catherine O’Donnell and her son James, James O’Flahery, and Jessica Gallagher, as well as Robert and his daughter.

A further eight suffered serious injuries, of whom one is understood to remain in a critical condition.

Speaking this morning ahead of the funerals, Fr Duffy paid tribute to the people of Creeslough who, he said, are "just at the beginning of a long journey of recovery."

Bishop of Raphoe Alan McGuckian described Fr Duffy as being a “rock” for the people, adding: “He is convinced he is being carried by the prayers of so many people.

“He would say he is getting strength from outside himself to go and meet the family… He’s very clear that people’s prayers are giving him help to speak the right words.”