‘Heaven and earth united to bring Willie back to us,’ mourners told
‘HEAVEN and earth united to bring Willie back to us,’ Fr Michael Doyle told hundreds of mourners gathered inside and outside of Poulfur church on Monday.
Willie Whelan’s remains arrived in a hearse decorated with yellow flowers spelling Husband: his wife Mandy, stepdaughter Lily-May, parents Joe and Maggie; brothers: Joseph, Malcolm and Ciaran walking behind.
Hundreds of mourners lined the winding path down to the church, located in a hollow just off the Fethard road, a road eerily quiet of passing traffic on Monday afternoon.
Willie’s former teacher Mary Caulfield said she taught for 37 years and Willie stands out in her memory for his goodness. ‘He hadn’t a bad bone in his body. There wasn’t a grain of malice in his being. He cared for people and took an interest in them. Now that’s a rare quality and a very valuable one.’ She said Willie wanted to be a fisherman from a young age. ‘Over the years we would often meet for a chat outside the local shop and he would fill me in about how things were going and it was obvious that he was happy about the way things were going and he was proud of the family business. Now it’s sad that what William loved took him from us, from those who loved him and those he loved. As a community in Saltmills we are heartbroken but he will live on in our memory.’
Ms Caulfield recalled, the Gurteens, Saltmills man’s jolly face and ‘that glint in his eye, that familiar swagger of his’.
‘There was a spark of devilment in him too.’ Gifts symbolising Willie’s life were brought to the altar by family members including a boat, a scallop box, ropes and netting, a photo of his wedding day, a toy chainsaw and a Liverpool flag and jersey.
Fr Michael Doyle said the thoughts of the community were with Willie’s wife Mandy, sept-daughter, family and friends. He acknowledged the presence of An Garda Siochána, Garda underwater team, navy divers, Hook Sub Aqua team, the RNLI, members of the Coast Guard and local fishermen who helped in the 20-day search for Willie. ‘We are here to show you our love and our affection and our strength for you as you lean on us in this very difficult time. Sad news reached our shore here in the beginning of January and in the intervening weeks there have been many anguished moments as we all prayed and hoped and wished for the very best and eventually it became clear that our rescue mission was going to become a search mission.’
He said: ‘There have been so many who have poured out themselves, who have given themselves to William and have been a great source of strength and hope to his family.’
He said the pain of death cannot be airbrushed over. ‘Grief is the price that we pay for love. This family grieves the loss of a husband and a father and a son and a brother, nephew and great friend and a ship mate.’
He recalled Willie’s ship mate Joe Sinnott who also died when the Alize trawler sank off the south Wexford coast on January 4, saying Willie worked with him for 20 years. ‘Just as they were in life so also they are in death.’
Fr Doyle said Willie was a saint. He spoke of his love of fishing, adding that he was an extraordinary sprinter and high jumper in his youth.
‘From the tender age of ten he was naturally drawn to the sea and when the sea salt gets into your veins it’s very difficult to keep away from it. It attracts us and there seems to be no reverse with regard to it. He was also into all things mechanical from a very young age.’
Fr Doyle spoke of Willie’s friendship with Ken Doyle from Duncannon.
‘All of our hearts are heavy and they are broken. None of us want to be here if truth be told, but we are here because of the reality that is.’
He spoke highly of everyone who save people’s lives at sea, adding that people from fishing communities across Ireland have sent their sympathies and prayers to Willie’s family.
‘Our Bishop was in contact with me and he wanted to convey his condolences to the family and to assure you of his prayers. Like a fishing net we are all intertwined and interlocked and interconnected. Everybody’s hearts were moved deeply by this reality that we now pray for today.
‘It’s true that the sea took his life but I noticed that when it did so it brought back an extraordinary flood of memories for this community – so many families who have been touched by the lost lives at sea – some of whom, sadly, have never been found so we keep them in our thoughts and prayers as well.’
Fr Doyle thanked everyone who looked for Willie and brought him back home.
‘There is an old saying in Gaelic that the sea takes its own and it did. However the boat was not willing to give him up and against all odds considering the number of storms that we’ve had. There were many times we feared we would never find him but the boat held firmly onto him so with the help of the various diving teams finally his body was able to be retrieved from the sea.’
Fr Doyle said Willie had many hopes and dreams for his life with his wife Mandy and step-daughter Lily-May, saying ‘it’s a very heavy cross, especially for Mandy and Lily-May and his family.’
Willie was laid to rest afterwards in the New Cemetery in Poulfur.