Heartbroken Creeslough families grieve together, sharing stories of lost loved ones
People attending today's vigil at Market Square, Letterkenny, Co Donegal, following the devastating explosion that claimed 10 lives in the nearby village of Creeslough.Â
When Hugh Harper described his "little gem", 14-year-old Leona, he could have been describing any 14-year-old.
As much as she was like any other young girl, however, he said his daughter was "very special".
“She was a little gem, very outgoing, a very friendly, lovely person, very quiet, laid back, loved life, loved the outdoors, walking through fields, going fishing, spending time with friends, going to car shows,” he told Highland Radio.
He added: “She was like everybody else's daughter but to us she was very special.
“She is going to be very sorely missed.”
As he was speaking to Highland Radio, a solitary hearse carrying James O’Flaherty was pulling out of the Eternal Light Chapel of Rest in Letterkenny for the journey to Roarty's Funeral Home, Derrybeg.
Sitting alone in the back seat was the 12-year-son to whom the Australian-born engineer was devoted.
The pair had been inseparable, and were often seen going for walks in the various woodlands and areas around their home just outside Dunfanaghy.
Neighbour Dr Dan Gill said he understood James had gone to pay for fuel while Hamish sat in the back.
His father had just collected him from school and they are understood to have been due to go for a walk in Creeslough’s Duntally Wood national nature reserve.
It was something they often did together, as indeed they regularly spent time throwing pebbles into Sheephaven Bay nearby.
In the seconds before the explosion, James was walking through the doorway of the filling station and onto the forecourt making his way, step by step, to his car.
Sitting in the car, Hamish dropped something he had in his hand and leant forward and down to pick it up.
As his hand reached out and as his father walked towards the car, the explosion happened.
Debris flew in all directions, shattering the car's windows, but miraculously, it flew over Hamish’s head.
By the time he looked up, and emerged shaken but unhurt physically, his father was nowhere to be seen and he was surrounded by rubble and debris.
Dr Gill, who helped in the initial rescue efforts and tended to Hamish at the scene, told the Irish Examiner: “I heard James was walking back to the car and then the explosion hit.
“Hamish had a just wee cut in his hand which I just cleaned up and put a wee dressing on but that was his only injury and he was in the forecourt in a car.
“You know? He was in his father's car - a big Volvo, which they are attributing to saving him - a big, big heavy old Volvo great car.
“He said he just dropped something and he just kind of bent down when that happened, so all the glass shattered but it shattered over him.
“He wasn't sitting by the window, he was bending down to get something off the floor.
“So that saved him from a significant injury.”
As heartbroken families steeled themselves for the funerals ahead, some described what had happened in interviews with their local radio station.Â
Leona Harper’s mother said she was told her daughter might be on the way to hospital while she lay in the ruins of the Applegreen filling station last Friday.
Her mother Donna told Highland Radio the 14-year-old, who was found after 24 hours, was the last person to be removed from the scene of the explosion.
With a voice as emotionally strained and weary as her husband’s, she also thanked the digger driver who refused to give up on getting Leona out until the very end.
Donna said: “We wouldn't know where to begin to thank everybody for everything they did before finally finding her.
“I was told that she was trapped under there. We were also told there was a big possibility she might be on her way to hospital.
“Everybody was accounted for in the hospital and then... then they had realised... and that's when we realised Leona didn't make it out.”
“I personally don't know who the driver was but thank you to him because he just didn't stop until he got her,” Donna said.
“It was 24 hours before she was taken out. She was the last.”
The heartbroken aunt of Jessica Gallagher said the 24-year-old, whose funeral is 11am tomorrow was due to start a new job yesterday.
Dolores Gallagher said Jessica had been due to start her new job in Belfast on Monday.
The family brought her remains home on Sunday night by moonlight.
“Jessica was, as her photographs show, the most beautiful young woman,” she said.
“She was very artistic, she qualified as a fashion designer.
“She was to finally start her job as a fashion designer today. She was starting her new professional life as a fashion designer in Belfast.
“And she had just finished her first commission.”
Jessica, whose funeral will be held in Creeslough tomorrow at 11am, loved her village and life there.
“She was so proud of and had loved her locality,” she said.
“When she was a student in Paris, one of her assignments was to work on something from home and she produced a beautiful picture of Muckish Mountain in the moonlight.”
Mrs Gallagher’s voice trembled as she added: “We took her remains home in the moonlight.”
“Neighbours have been unbelievably kind and generous with their offers of help,” she said, also praising the “tactful way” everyone has been so supportive.
These, she said, included “those other poor people who have been bereaved or have injured family members and loved ones and still managed to find the courage and strength to make contact to offer condolences”.
Local businessman Fintan Coll paid tribute to Martin McGill, who also died in the explosion.
Mr Coll, who runs a carpet cleaning service in the area, knew the 49-year-old who had come from Scotland a few years ago to look after his elderly mother, Mary.
“He was such a familiar sight in the village,” he recalled.
“He was the sort of person who wouldn’t see you short.
“If you had a flat tyre, he’d be the sort to help you fix it and would stay with you until you were on the road again."
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