Three coffins, no words: Parish stands with family on ‘dark journey’

“Since last Monday, Calvary has pitched its tent in our community”, a priest told mourners at the funeral of the mother, son and grandmother who died in the same road crash in Co Mayo this week.

Fr Kevin Hegarty said no words — not even a multi-volumed Oxford Dictionary — could described the anguish of the families of Mary Ann Wilson, her daughter, Marcella Wilson, and grandson Seán Wilson McGlynn.

“The way of the Cross has made its way to to the village of Cross where the Wilson family lived,” he said.

Parallel to the tiny altar where Fr Hegarty spoke rested two brown coffins, each carrying a photo taken in happier times. Alongside them stood seven-year-old Seán’s while casket, which was adorned by his photograph and his beloved Paw Patrol teddy bear.

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Before Mass began, Mary Ann’s husband Joe (Josie) approached the coffins and kissed each photo in turn.

Fr Hegarty was assisted at a thronged St Joseph’s Church in Erris by six co-celebrants for the funeral Mass. The three family members died together in a road traffic incident near Claremorris last Monday.

Pledging bereaved family members support on their “dark journey”, Fr Hegarty said the Wilsons had enriched the lives of those who knew them and loved them,

‘She knew love’

Mary Ann, he said, was a wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. “Motherhood was at the core of her being. She knew the language of love and she expressed it eloquently in the way she lived.”

Of Marcella Wilson, the priest said she had been full of life and laughter when he knew her as a student. “She had her personal difficulties but she confronted them with courage, grace and dignity.”

Describing Seán, Fr Hegarty said he had been full of life, energy and “divilment”.

The priest called on the community to support Marcella’s other children — Amy, Kelly and Anthony — to give them the kind of life their mother passionately wanted for them.

Tearfully, Amy, who received her Junior Cert results this week, addressd the large congregation. “As you know”, she said, “I lost my granny, my little brother and my mum.

“I just want Seán, the baby of the house, to know we will always love him and he will be in our hearts and minds forever.”

Michael Gallagher, speaking on behalf of Seán’s father, Anthony McGlynn, said Anthony wanted to express his deep and enduring sorrow for the loss of three people very dear to him.

He also, Mr Gallagher explained, wanted to express his gratitude for the thousands who had attended the removal and funerals as well as those who assisted at the scene of the tragic accident.

After the Mass, the three funeral hearses stopped briefly at the Wilson family home for a poignant, final “farewell” before proceeding to Cross Cemetery for the burials.