Side by side

‘Saints and angels’ laid side by side

Funeral Mass
Áine Ryan

‘SAINTS and angels’ was how most mourners described murdered brothers Jack and Tom Blaine as a town came to terms with their horrific deaths last Wednesday, according to Castlebar curate Fr Michael Farragher.
And as they lay side-by-side in their simple coffins under the altar at the Church of the Holy Rosary yesterday morning they were in death replicating a lifetime of closeness and brotherly dedication. The photographs on their coffins evoking their innocence and trustfulness as the service opened with a moving rendition of Amazing Grace, sung by Elaine Madden.   
Just hours before news of their brutal murders spread through the county town last Wednesday morning there had been a power cut; Castlebar was in darkness, all was quiet.
“Little did we know that within 12 hours word would spread of this tragedy and the town would be covered in darkness again. Since then the community has been in a state of shock, horror and disbelief,” Father Farragher said in his sermon at their funeral Mass yesterday.
But, he continued, the tragedy of these deaths must never negate the lives lived by these two men.
“I believe that Jack and Tom could not be closer to God than they are now. Saints are meant to show us the way to God. The presence of Jack and Tom on the streets of this town enabled so many people to live out the Christian message. People accepted their special needs.”
Fr Farragher told the packed church – filled with over 600 sombre mourners – that just as the lights of Castlebar had come back on last week, ‘we now have to deal with our shock, disbelief and fear’.
“We need to reach out to each other as good neighbours. The parish community in Ballina also needs to reach out in kindness and compassion to the other family involved in this tragedy,” he said.
Earlier, during the offertory procession,  family members brought symbols to the altar representing  their simple lives during the offertory procession: for Jack it was a model of a vintage car, a statue of the Child of Prague and that famous mug from Rocky’s pub where he regularly drank tea; for Tom there was a shopping bag and fruit as he was the brother in charge of their culinary needs.

Kisses
WHILE the poignant air of An Chúilfhionn (The Coolin) played on the low whistle after the communion rippled through the silent church, it was a poem called Kisses, read by Teresa Dunne, that caused the congregation to applaud. The poem, which was written by poet Clodagh O’Brien, who on her regular visits to see her parents in Castlebar, often saw Jack.
“Soft and wet they glistened on windows and door-frames./ They were his gifts, each one a puckered blessing. /Bent into a swirl he shuffled from street to street, a daily routine threaded into his soul like breadcrumbs./ New Antrim Street was his home, a small haven with an open door where he watched his world go by./ Everyone knew him. Locals greeted him with a nod often finding his eyes lost in the job of kissing.
His kisses are lost now, stilled by violence, their ghostly imprints scattered along the aching streets./ Soil waits to hold him, embrace with soft hands too used to harbouring sleep.

Neighbours
AS the two brothers were led side by side from the church shortly after midday yesterday, one grieving neighbour told The Mayo News: ”Jackie and Tom were part of New Antrim Street, both were absolutely innocuous and harmless. Jackie had a lovely ritual of coming to houses and touching the door handles and then kissing them. The ritual was like a prayer.”
The funeral was attended by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Deputy Dara Calleary (Fianna FΡil), Cllr Johnny O’Malley, the Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Padraig Flynn, former EU Commissioner and government minister and his daughter, Beverley Flynn, a former TD. Relatives of the brothers who partook in the ceremony and carried the coffins included the Dunne and Hopkins families. The brothers were pre-deceased by their mother Delia and brother Michael Joe.  
The Mass was concelebrated by Fr Michael Farragher, Castlebar curate (his final Mass in Castlebar before he becomes Parish Priest in Carnacon), Fr Michael Nohilly, Adm of Parke and Crimlin, Bishop Richard Dunne, a native of Crimlin who recently retired from New York, Fr Charlie McDonnell, whose mother lives on New Antrim Street, Frs John Kenny, Michael Murphy, John McCormack and Deacon SeΡn Flynn. The PP of Castlebar Fr John Cosgrove was also in attendance.