Fire victim mourned

Ballina mourns house fire victim

Anna-Marie Flynn

BALLINA was in mourning last week as fire victim Joseph Sweeney was brought to his final resting place at Leigue cemetery.
Former school teachers and friends joined the large congregation at the Requiem Mass in St Muredach’s Cathedral on Thursday morning last to pay their final respects to the McDermott Street resident who died in a blaze two weeks ago.
The deceased had been baptised in the same church just 27 years ago.
A visibly emotional Fr Gerry O’Hora told the mourners: “There is no heavier burden than that of a son’s coffin,” before describing Joseph, known as Joe, as ‘a quiet person who liked his own company’.
He said Joe was a person who had many gifts and talents and who was good to all his family, particularly his young nieces and nephews.
Fr O’Hora described the significance of a gift of a guitar, to be buried with the deceased, by one of Joe’s friends. “He loved music, particularly that with a strong beat and had a great love of playing the guitar. It was something he really took to and enjoyed.”
The priest extended his sympathies to the wider Sweeney and Jordan families and assured them they would be reunited in heaven, along with Joe’s brothers Stephen and Bertie.
Twenty-seven-year-old Joseph Sweeney died in St James’s Hospital, Dublin, on May 17 as a result of injuries sustained in a fire at his home six days previously. It is believed the most severe injuries were received in his bid to escape the blaze.
Mr Sweeney and his parents were in the house at the time the fire broke out on Sunday evening, May 11. All three were removed to Mayo General Hospital with the deceased later transferred to St James’s Hospital.
Joseph Sweeney is survived by his parents Rita and John (known locally as Bertie) sisters Mary and Anna, and brothers Stewart and Anthony. The death of Joseph is the latest in a line of cruel blows dealt to the family, after his brothers Stephen and Bertie both died in tragic circumstances.