Hundreds mourn Down fishing family's tragedy

Three generations of the same family of fishermen were laid to rest today after their bodies were finally taken from the bottom…

Three generations of the same family of fishermen were laid to rest today after their bodies were finally taken from the bottom of the Irish Sea.

Hundreds of mourners braved a bleak, rain lashed day in Kilkeel, Co Down to say farewell to the Greenes - father, son and grandson - all named Michael.

They died when the fishing boat they were using to trawl for prawns went down in mysterious circumstances seven miles offshore in mid-February. Their bodies were only recovered at the weekend.

The coastal village came to a standstill for the funeral of Mr Michael Greene snr, who was buried first, as fellow fishermen, lifeboatmen, coastguards and the police divers who found the bodies in the wreck under 140 feet of water paid their last respects.

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Both the Irish Navy and the British Royal Navy, who mounted searches for the missing Tullaghmurry Lass, sent representatives.

Mr Greene's wife Anne carried a single red rose as she walked behind her husband's coffin from their home to the church - so packed many hundreds were left outside in the teeming rain.

Father Sean McCartney spoke of the shock in the community of losing the "three Michaels"

And Father Michael Murray recalled the community gathering in grief after the family went missing: "On that evening the families had to carry the extra heavy burden that the bodies of their loved ones were still missing.

"Today, as a result of the power of prayer and the persistence of those involved in the search, that burden has been removed."

Hours later even more villagers gathered again on the other side of Kilkeel for the joint funeral of Michael jnr and his eight-year-old son.

The coffin of the father was carried by the Police Service divers who had recovered it and the white coffin of his little son by crew members from the Ken Vickers fishery protection vessel from which they made their many dives before locating the wreckage on the sea bed.

Mr Greene's wife Kathleen walked, single red rose in hand, between the two coffins, at times reaching out to that bearing her son.

Her young daughters Tierna and Stephanie each carried pictures, one of their lost father and the other of their little brother.

PA