Family that lost three generations in Omagh bomb ‘hope no others suffer’

A Co Tyrone family that was robbed of three generations of females in the Omagh bomb have said they hope no other family suffers as they have.

Mary Grimes died in the atrocity on her 66th birthday, along with her daughter Avril Monaghan, 30, who was pregnant with twin daughters, and her 20-month-old daughter Maura.

The Omagh Bombing Inquiry heard tributes to them during the second day of commemorative hearings for the 29 victims of the August 15, 1998 dissident republican bomb attack.

Inquiry chair Lord Turnbull described an “incomprehensible loss”.

The inquiry was shown photographs of Mrs Grimes, Mrs Monaghan and little Maura – who won a “bonnie baby” competition during her short life, as well as ultrasound scan pictures of the unborn twin girls who had been named Eimear and Evelyn.

Fearghal Grimes gave evidence to the inquiry on Wednesday. He recalled how at the inquests into the Omagh bomb, former senior coroner John Leckey said he could not recall any one family suffering such a loss in the history of the Troubles.

He described his mother Mary as a woman with a strong Catholic faith, a strong work ethic and a “deep sense of family values and she lived these out every day”.

Born in Co Cork, he said she trained to be a nurse and then a midwife before meeting his father Mick and settling together on a dairy farm in Beragh – where they had 11 children.

“No-one was ever turned away from her door and no-one left without a cup of tea or some of her beautiful current bread or apple tart,” he said.

“A modest women all her days, our mother let her actions and her endless compassion speak for her.

“She was happiest in the kitchen surrounded by her family.

“Her tragic passing in the cruellest of ways possible, the Omagh bomb, robbed us, her family, her husband, friends and neighbours a chance to pay back the love and affection she had shown to all of her.

“A massive dignified crowd at her wake and funeral and those of her beautiful daughter Avril, her granddaughter Maura and Avril’s unborn twins reflected the enormity of the loss for her family, neighbours and society.”

He added: “Were it not for the faith and compassion that our mother Mary and father Mick passed on to us 11 children and 28 grandchildren and indeed the local community, we would not have been fit to carry on with the quiet dignity and resolve to make society a better place for everyone.”

In a recording played to the inquiry, Mrs Monaghan’s daughter Aoibheann spoke about her mother Avril, sister Maura and the two twin girls she had looked forward to having as sisters.

She described Maura as a “source of light and joy to our family and everyone around her”, with a “bubbly personality and unmistakable head of curly hair”.

“Maura may have left this world too soon, but she will forever remain a shining light for us and we have no doubt that the world would have been a better place had she lived,” she said.

Aoibheann said her mother grew up in the farmlands of Beragh with nine brothers, one sister and her parents, with a love of camogie and Irish dancing, and went on to meet her husband-to-be Michael at Kelly’s in Ballygawley.

She said she had become the proud mother of four children by the age of 30, describing her as “calm and nurturing and approached life with a can-do attitude”.

“Her life at the age of 30 was tragically cut short on August 15, 1998,” she said.

“On the day of our granny’s 66th birthday, they travelled to Omagh to celebrate when fate intervened. The Omagh bomb stole our mummy from her loved ones, leaving behind a grieving husband and three of her children aged only five, four and three, as well as the wide Monaghan and Grimes families.

“Her mother, Mary Grimes, her youngest daughter Maura, as well as Eimear and Evelyn were all taken from us that day.”

She described the twin girls as two little girls they were extremely excited to meet and welcome.

She said: “Unfortunately that day did not come, and the pictures of the scan are a reminder of the many futures that never became a reality following the bomb on August 15, 1998.”

She added: “We have no doubt that mummy, Maura, Eimear, Evelyn and granny have been our guardian angels over the years and will continue to be present in our lives for all time.

“The loss we as a family have experienced over the last 26 years cannot be measured, and there is no replacement for the time we would have had with mummy, Maura, Eimear, Evelyn and granny.

“We are however eternally grateful for the time that we did have with them, and we only hope that no other family has to suffer as we did.”