Friends and family members lined the quayside as the body of the third victim of the Inishbofin house fire was removed yesterday from the island and taken to England, where she will be buried tomorrow. Mrs Bridget McFadden (76) died along with her sisters, Mrs Eileen Coyne (82) and Ms Margaret Concannon (72), in a fire in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Mrs Coyne, who owned the house where the fire occurred, and Ms Concannon were buried in the island cemetery on Friday after a funeral service which was attended by the island's entire population of over 200. The remains of Mrs McFadden stayed in St Colman's Church over the weekend and, at 8 a.m. yesterday, were taken on the eight-mile journey by boat to the mainland, and on to Slough, via Shannon. Her three grown-up children, Margaret, Christine and Michael, accompanied the body of their mother home. They had also attended their aunts' funerals on Friday.
Inishbofin priest Father Declan Carroll led a group of relatives and friends who made the journey to England for the funeral. Members of the Inishbofin Ceili Band are also travelling to England to perform at the funeral tomorrow.