MORE THAN 29 years ago while on his way to Mass at the Church of St Patrick in Crossmaglen, 57-year-old Charlie Armstrong was abducted, murdered and secretly buried in a bog in Co Monaghan by, it is generally accepted, the IRA – although the republican group has never admitted the killing.
In the same church on a grey, wet day on Saturday morning Bishop Gerard Clifford, auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Armagh, said from the altar in front of Mr Armstrong’s coffin: “Twenty-nine years ago he set out for Mass here in St Patrick’s church, Crossmaglen. Today he completes that journey. Twenty-nine years is a long time to wait for his arrival but today we thank God that he has completed that journey and he now rests in peace.”
His elderly widow, Kathleen, sons, daughters, grandchildren and hundreds of people from Crossmaglen and other areas crowded the church on Saturday to remember Mr Armstrong, without expressions of bitterness, just great relief.
Remains were found in bogland in Monaghan in July and last week were confirmed by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains as those of Mr Armstrong. His is the seventh body of the “disappeared” to be recovered; nine remain missing.
His daughter Anna told the congregation of the great sense of liberation for his widow and the family that her father could now have a Christian burial.
She also thanked the anonymous person who supplied the map that finally helped uncover her father’s body.
With emotion she read the lines: "Death is a heartache no one can heal, but love is a memory no one can steal." All the "disappeared" were remembered at the Mass. The first reading, from the Book of Wisdom, opened: "The virtuous man though he die before his time will find rest . . . " The second reading, from St Paul to the Romans, began: "Hope is not deceptive . . . "
Bishop Clifford said that over the past 29 years the Armstrong family never gave up hope. What they demanded was that a “husband, a father, would be given a proper burial . . . a dignified burial”. The family’s “search has ended” and Saturday was a “day to welcome home one who was loved and respected in this community”.
“They still struggle with their loss but we know that, in particular, they give hope and consolation to those still in search of a loved one,” he added.
The bishop appealed for anyone with information – anyone “who may have an inkling or hint that might give a lead to those doing the search” – to come forward.
“It was only with the help of those who gave some clue of what they remembered that we gather here today,” he added.
“Time is moving on. There may be people who have some indication of where a body is placed. Memories become frayed. Thankfully today in the search for those who have disappeared there is more advanced technology than in the past. That is the added hope given to us today. We are all getting older and time is passing all too quickly. To anybody who might have a shred of information I appeal to you to share that with those who will explore it to the full,” said Bishop Clifford.
Among those who attended the funeral were Sir Kenneth Bloomfield of the commission for recovering the bodies of the disappeared; Sinn Féin Minister for Regional Development Conor Murphy; Cavan-Monaghan TD Rory O’Hanlon; SDLP Assembly member for the area Dominic Bradley, Prof Monica McWilliams, head of the North’s Human Rights Commission, and victims’ commissioner Brendan McAllister.