Memorial service

Ciara’s ashes to be buried with her father in Lettermore

Michael Duffy

THE emotional scenes in Quincy, Massachusetts last Saturday at the funeral of the US soldier shot in Afghanistan two weeks ago, Ciara Durkin, are set to be repeated this weekend in Lettermore in Co Galway.
The ceremony on Saturday in the west Galway village will be attended by her relations from the Tourmakeady area before a portion of her cremated remains are buried with her father, Tommie, in Lettermore Cemetery. The remaining ashes will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia with full military honors and in her home town of Quincy.
It is also expected that most of Ciara’s family will travel from the United States to attend Saturday’s ceremony in Lettermore.
The circumstances surrounding the death of Ms Durkin have been making headlines on both sides of the Atlantic this week with US Senator and former presidential candidate John Kerry vowing to help a heartbroken family get answers.
Fiona Canavan, a sister of Ciara, said she was stunned when the senator and former presidential candidate left a message on her answering machine saying he ‘would not rest until we have answers’.
“We feel honoured that Senator Kerry has taken a personal interest and we have great faith in his ability to bring us the answers we are anxiously awaiting so my sister can rest in peace,” Ms Canavan told the Boston Herald this week. “[The military] is definitely holding back; as to why we can only speculate. It is not fair to leave us wondering.”
The family believes that someone on the military base shot her, Ms Canavan said. She said her sister had been shot once in the head behind a building near a church at about 6.30pm, on September 27, an hour after sunset.
“Ciara was in casual clothes, so she had finished work,” Fiona said. “But they haven’t told us any more than that and we have asked every question you could possibly imagine.”
Her funeral was held last Saturday at the St John the Baptist Parish Church in Quincy