Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Prayers for kill accused son at mum’s funeral
Priest tells of double tragedy
A PRIEST yesterday offered prayers for a doctor accused of murdering his mother.
Fr Feargal Mcgrady told mourners at the Requiem Mass of Anne O’neill, 51, that her death was a “double tragedy” and prayed “in a special way” for her son Declan, who is charged with her murder.
The mother of two died following an alleged attack at her parents’ house in Ardmore Avenue, Finaghy, South Belfast, on October 22.
She was discovered in the back garden with injuries.
Emergency crews tried without success to resuscitate her but she died at the scene.
Her 27-year-old son, of Malone Avenue in the south of the city, denies murder and was remanded in custody.
In his homily at St Anne’s Church, Kingsway, Finaghy, Fr Mcgrady, added everyone’s “hearts are breaking” for Ms O’neill’s elderly parents Claire and George and all the family.
He said: “It just seems too much. Too much also for Anne’s daughter Claire-anne who is at the cliff-face of this double tragedy.
“I wish we could change it, Claireanne, but we all need to help you live for the future.
“We are all to some extent held captive in this world. We’ve made bad choices or made mistakes, or we are victims of circumstance or life seems to have thrown us a raw deal.
“Each of us struggles with the things that hold us captive. We now need courage to let go of all the hindsight and the ‘if onlys’. Life is a mystery, it remains a mystery.
“It’s not so important to know all the whys.
“But it is important we learn to accept it and all the unanswered questions. We cannot change the
BELFAST YESTERDAY
past, but we can live for the future.”
His mother is survived by her parents, her children Claire-anne and Declan, their father Kevin, her brothers Gerard and Paul and wider family circle.