The Tricolour and the Green Flag were placed on Paul's coffin in the garden of his home, the silence only broken by birdsong. His friend and comrade Padraig Mac Coitir then delivered a heartfelt oration and Pol MacAdaim sang Farewell to Bellaghy before Paul's coffin was carried round his house twice.
A lone piper led the way as he left his home for the final time and we walked in sombre silence along the Ballyscullion Road, which is no wider than the coffin and those of us who were on the guard of honour.
A lone piper led the way as he left his home for the final time and we walked in sombre silence along the Ballyscullion Road, which is no wider than the coffin and those of us who were on the guard of honour.
As we walked that winding road, I couldn't help but think that these were the bóithrín and the fields that volunteers like Paul McGlinchey and his brother Dominic, Francis Hughes and Tom McElwee struck fear into the hearts of the enemy.
Soon we caught sight of Saint Joseph's church and the little graveyard on a hill across from it, on the main Loughbeg Road. We could see the crowds of people who lined that road from the junction of the Ballyscullion Road to the church. They had come to say welfare to one of their own and were joined by former blanket men.
After the requiem mass Paul was laid to rest in the graveyard at the gable of the ancient church, which is no longer in use. The national flag which had been erected earlier by former blanket men John Hunter and Dan Daly flew above his grave.
I must give a special mention to Paul's friends Gary Adams and Kevin Lynch who visited him many times in the final years of his life. They told us tales of Paul's humour even during the worst of his illness.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.
 |
Thomas Dixie Elliot is a Derry artist and a former H Block Blanketman. Follow Dixie Elliot on Twitter @IsMise_Dixie |
Good stuff Dixie - Paul was one of the best. You all did him good
ReplyDelete