One was an ambassador for the island, one was a mother committed to her family and one was an air traffic controller who rarely flew. A moving tribute to the lives of three elderly sisters was paid on Inisbofin, Co Galway, yesterday when the entire community and many summer visitors turned out to pay their last respects.
All three sisters who perished in the house fire on the island earlier this week had shared a love of their parents and a deep faith, Father Declan Carroll, curate on Inisbofin, said at the funeral Mass.
He appealed for a spirit of forgiveness and paid tribute to those who had "put their own lives in danger" to try to save the women when the fire started at the home of the eldest sister, Ms Eileen Coyne, early last Tuesday. The service at St Colman's Church was concelebrated by the Archbishop of Tuam, Dr Michael Neary, and seven other priests.
Among the mourners were the three children of Ms Bridget McFadden, whose body is due to be returned to her home in Slough, England, next week for burial. Ms Coyne (82) and Ms Margaret Concannon (72) were buried in the adjoining cemetery close to their parents' graves.
The President, Mrs McAleese, who had been unable to attend the removal ceremony on Thursday due to fog, was represented yesterday by her aide-de-camp, Capt Pauline O'Connell. The Government was represented by the Minister of State for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Mr Eamon O Cuiv.
A former Fine Gael minister who also held an island brief, Mr Donal Carey, also attended.
The Inisbofin Ceili Band, which had been playing in Galway city's Roisin Dubh on the night the fire broke out, performed the music during the service, and Andrew Murray, lead singer with De Danaan, sang one of the sisters' favourite songs, Maggie.
Mr Murray's family owns one of the two hotels on Inisbofin. Four of the younger relatives of the women - three in a family of 11 - recited a favourite poem.
Among the gifts delivered at the offertory were a music tape, signifying Margaret Concannon's passion for the arts, a potted plant, representing Eileen Coyne's love of gardening, and soda bread, which recalled Bridget McFad den's interest in baking.
Rosary beads were also delivered as a symbol of their faith.
Margaret and Bridget, who both lived in Britain, had travelled to Israel before coming to Inisbofin, and Eileen was a daily Mass-goer.
"The morning of July 6th is one I will probably never forget for the rest of my life, and I am sure for all the people of the parish and all who fought so bravely in the early hours of that morning, the memory will live with us forever," Father Carroll said.
He described the great shock and tragedy for the immediate and extended family of the Con cannon household.
"But on this peaceful and tranquil island of Inisbofin, everyone's pain and loss is shared among 215 inhabitants," he said. "No one need feel alone on this island, because there is a tremendous bond between everyone that lives here. Young and old care for each other."
Father Carroll related how Ms Coyne had been one of the first in the community to let a home for tourists to rent, and how she had been a "perfect ambassador" for Inisbofin. Her sister, Bridget, had a deep love of her family and was wholly committed to them.
The youngest sister, Margaret, had remained active after retiring as an air traffic controller. Last February, she had graduated with an Open University arts degree. "Not bad for a young person of 72," Father Carroll said. "She worked many years as an air traffic controller but never wanted to fly herself and went everywhere by sea."
Father Carroll recalled how on their last night alive, the sisters had met David Concannon, a relative who had arrived in search of his roots. He recalled how the sisters would tend to their parents' graves and bring a flask of tea to sustain them.
Father Carroll said it was the first time that there were three coffins in the church, and it was the worst tragedy to hit the island since 1927 when 25 Connemara fishermen, including nine from the island, had drowned. Only two of the bodies from Inisbofin were recovered. The most recent tragedy was in 1976 when two students from the University of Kansas had drowned on the island.
Dr Neary concluded the funeral service by asking for prayers for the closely-knit community, which had experienced some of the most traumatic days of their lives this week. The ceremony was marked by many floral tributes.
Local men and relatives bore the two coffins, while the third, that of Ms McFadden, will stay in the church until it is taken to England for burial on Wednesday. The cortege paused briefly on the final journey outside the devastated house of Ms Coyne at Middlequarter.
A 25-year-old man from Newcastle, Co Down, charged with manslaughter and arson at the house of Ms Coyne, is due in Galway District Court on Monday.
