Community’s grief as Ollie is laid to rest
THERE was a palpable feeling of sadness in Monamolin last Friday.
The many broken hearts of Wexford made their way to St Moling’s Church with grieving parents Jane and Barry Dempsey, who said their last goodbye to young son Ollie at the Mass of the Angels.
There was widespread shock when news broke that Ollie, who was just three years old, passed away unexpectedly in Wexford General Hospital on Tuesday after he suddenly fell ill.
Distraught parents Jane and Barry held each other tight as they walked behind the little white coffin with Ollie’s siblings Eoghan (13), Aishling (10) and six-month-old Darragh into the church as musicians Aoife Parle and Gail Murphy played ‘Angel’ by Sarah McLachlan.
There were flashes of the colour red from the family who wore Liverpool scarves for Ollie, while Jane and Barry had red jumpers with Ollie’s favourite character on it from the show Paw Patrol.
The little church in Monamolin was packed, with many standing outside listening to the beautiful ceremony. Younger members of the O’Connor and Dempsey families brought up little souvenirs and gifts of Ollie’s. As the song ‘ True Colours’ played, each one placed the gifts on the altar, which included Ollie’s soccer ball, his drinking bottle, a SpongeBob SquarePants guitar and a Spider Man mask.
Retired priest from Kilmuckridge Fr James Hammel said some comforting words during his homily to Jane, Barry, and the rest of the family members.
Fr Hammel said: ‘ We grieve with Jane and Barry and pray for Jane and Barry. It is such a heavy burden and heartbreak.
‘When we say goodbye to someone we die a little on the inside, and as Jane and Barry say goodbye to little three-year-old Ollie a part of them dies too, a part of all of us dies.
‘ The pain we feel, and Jane and Barry feel, is greater than having a sore head or a part of our body.
‘It won’t go away for them but they have their family, friends and good neighbours to help them get through this time of need.’
Little Ollie’s cousins, aunts and uncles each got up and read the prayers of the faithful. Each one contained a lovely message about how they will miss him and will never forget him.
At the end, they thanked everyone for their support and to the staff at Wexford General Hospital.
Older siblings Eoghan and Aisling, Barry’s children, brought up the bread and the wine to Fr Hammel and the musicians played ‘Over the Rainbow’ and ‘ The Rose’.
Two family members, Katie and Paula, stood up at the altar and read a reflection. They read the prayer ‘Now I lay me down to sleep’, which Ollie used to say every night before going to bed.
After this, Jane and Barry bravely got up to say a few words about Ollie at the end of the funeral ceremony. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place when they spoke of their great memories.
‘Only last week he still had us singing Christmas songs,’ said Jane. ‘And every time we got a word wrong he would make us start from the beginning.’
She also said Ollie was ‘ the first to make baby Darragh laugh’ and how he ‘ loved his visits to Nanny to bake some brown bread’.
After his parents’ tribute, the musicians played some of Ollie’s favourite Christmas songs as Jane said it was one of the last things they did with him.
Jane, Barry, Eoghan, Aishling, baby Darragh and the family members took their final walk with Ollie to Liverpool’s anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. A big crowd followed them as they made their way to the adjoining cemetery.