Accident victim Phillip Moore was rugby fan, Christian, and doting dad to a little girl

Phillip Moore, from the Aughnacloy area, died aged 38 as a result of head injuries from a piece of equipment on Thursday morning while working at his job in Dungannon.

He was buried yesterday without a normal funeral due to Covid-19 restrictions.

He was born to Eva and Lawrence in 1981, and developed a love of working with sheep and pigs on a farm with his father and brother Mark.

He attended Aughnacloy Primary School, Fivemiletown High, then Athlone Institute of Technology, and qualified as a joiner.

Latterly he worked at Westland Peat for the last 10 years, becoming shift manager.

Phillip married former school friend Ruth in 2008, and they had a child – Lilly May.

Rev Spence said: “Phillip had a lot of loves in his life, but first and foremost Phil lived for Ruth and, in the last three years, Lilly. They were his life and everything he did was for them.

“Lilly was the apple of his eye and whatever Lilly she wanted she got! She certainly was a daddy’s girl, loving him to the moon and back.”

In 2003 he was diagnosed non-Hodgkins lymphona – a rare type of cancer.

He underwent treatment and got the “all clear” in 2004.

The minister added “the nurses often said that they wished all their patients were like Phillip – his cancer never overwhelmed him, he just did what needed to be done”.

A sports fan, he supported Man United, enjoyed golf – but rugby was his real passion.

He played for Fivemiletown High, then Clogher Valley RFC from age 14 up until recently.

He also played for the Buccanneers U20s at Athlone.

He was very handy when it came to making things, such as his daughter’s playhouse, slide and swing, his patio, and during lockdown he had taken to baking with Lilly too.

“In addition to all of this Phillip loved to help prepare the Hereford cattle for the shows which mostly ended up with the sore toe, or covered in muck as he was dragged through the muck while trying to ‘break’ a cow/calf or bull, but Phil always won in the end,” said Rev Spence.

“When people talk about Phillip, there is one word that everyone uses to describe him – a gentleman. He just loved to be the life and soul of the party, for if there was fun Phillip was in the middle of it. He was loved by everyone.”

He had also given “his life to Jesus, and because he put his trust in Christ to save Him we have this great assurance from God’s Word in the midst of the grief and pain that he is at home now with the Lord”.

He is buried at the Upper Clonaneese Presbyterian Church, and is survived by his widow, brother, sister Naomi, daughter, plus two parents, and grandfather Robert.

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