Hundreds of mourners attend first funerals for Donegal explosion victims

Two of the 10 victims – Jessica Gallagher and Martin McGill – were laid to rest after funeral masses in Creeslough, Co Donegal.

The president of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, and the country’s premier, Micheal Martin, were represented at the services by officials from the Irish Defence Forces. Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill was present as well.

Emergency responders who took part in the 24-hour recovery operation at the blast site also attended.

State authorities in Ireland continue to investigate the cause of the explosion in a building complex which included the service station, a shop and apartments.

It is being treated as a “tragic accident”. A gas leak is one theory, it is believed.

The first Mass on Tuesday was for Ms Gallagher, who was remembered for her “love, affection, kindness and warmth”.

After her body was carried into the church in a wicker coffin, Creeslough parish priest Father John Joe Duffy extended his “sincere and heartfelt sympathies” to her parents Anthony and Bernie, her two sisters and her boyfriend Conor.

In his homily, Fr Duffy said Ms Gallagher “radiated a warm and positive feeling” to all who knew her well.

He described her as the “jewel” of her family.

The priest said she left ripples of “love, affection, kindness and warmth” wherever she went.

“We are experiencing – you, the family, are experiencing – that most difficult challenge of all: the pain and hardship of having to say goodbye to Jessica today,” he said.

“That pain has been felt in our parish and in our neighbouring parishes when the pathway in which Jessica and others were travelling through life was so abruptly ended by this tragic accident.

“I wish I, as a priest, could explain that more fully in a way that words could explain it, but we do not have words to explain it, for words would make no sense or couldn’t give it sense.”

He added: “Our entire community is hurting, our hearts are heavy, but our spirits are strong.”

Fr Duffy also presided at the funeral for Mr McGill in the same church later in the day.

In his homily, he spoke of the 49-year-old’s devotion in caring for his mother Mary.

“Martin was a carer who was full of love, full of kindness and full of compassion,” he said.

Mr McGill was originally from Kirkintilloch near Glasgow, and was a lifelong Celtic fan.

Fr Duffy said it would have meant a lot to him that the Old Firm club had made a donation to a support fund for the Creeslough victims and that its players will wear black armbands at their next match.

The priest said Mr McGill had the “most beautiful soul”.

He said Mr McGill was routinely in the shop where he died, carrying messages for other people.

“It was, I suppose, against the odds that Martin would not have been in the shop, for he went to the shop five times a day or more to bring those errands out for people,” he said.

At the close of the funeral, mourners sang ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.