Clara family's fifty years of loss recalled at poignant memorial
Two teenagers who are bound together forever by what was described as “obscene misfortune” were remembered at a deeply moving memorial event to mark the 50th anniversary of the Belturbet bombing in county Cavan last week.
It was the sheer ordinary nature of what 16-year old Patrick (Paddy) Stanley from Clara and 15-year old schoolgirl, Geraldine O’Reilly, from Drumacon, outside Belturbet, were doing on the fateful night of December 28, 1972 when they were both killed instantly in a no-warning bomb explosion that resonated with so many.
The poignant ceremony in Belturbet was organised by Cavan County Council and campaign group, Justice for the Forgotten, and included a wreath-laying ceremony by members of both the Stanley and O’Reilly families in front of the bronze monument which was unveiled in Belturbet in 2007 in memory of the two teenagers who lost their lives in the explosion.
The event was attended by up to 50 members of the extended Stanley family and their friends, who made the trip from Clara to Cavan, where they were joined by relatives of the second teenage victim of the bomb, Geraldine O’Reilly, along with representatives from Cavan County Council and members of the local community.
Susan Stanley, who was born three months after the death of her brother, Paddy, in the Belturbet bombing, addressed the memorial event on behalf of her brothers and sisters.
She also read a very moving poem called “Our Brown Box” which she penned after she and her siblings discovered newspaper cuttings, Mass Cards and letters about the bombing that their parents had kept for many years in a locked box in the family home in Clara.
Susan described the memorial event in Belturbet as “a lovely day” despite the sadness of the occasion. She said it meant “a great deal” to both families to have their loved ones memorialised. “Speaking for my own family, I think it brought back a lot of memories for us and for everyone who knew Paddy and for many of our cousins who made the trip, it was their very first time to be in Belturbet,” said Susan.
On their return from the 50th anniversary memorial event in Belturbet, which also included a special Mass, the Stanley family attended a special Mass in St Brigid’s Church in Clara at which a pair of football boots and a hurley were brought to the altar to signify the short life of Paddy Stanley. Prayers were also said at the Mass for his two cousins, John and Linda, who also passed away on December 28, in 1993 and 2017 respectively.
Speaking to the Offaly Independent this week in the wake of the 50th anniversary memorial event, Susan Stanley said her family are being kept “fully informed” on all aspects of the new garda investigation into the Belturbet bombing, and their liaison officer is “always at the end of the phone.”
While she says the families of both victims are “aware that we may not get a conviction” they are, nonetheless, hopeful of a breakthrough in the investigation, and are confident that all the available evidence will be thoroughly re-examined.
Later this month, the investigation team will begin the painstaking process of taking new witness statements from everyone who was in Belturbet on the night of December 28, 1972, and from the families of those who have passed away since then.
Gardai continue to appeal for anyone with information in relation to the bombing to contact the Incident Room at Ballyconnell Garda Station at 049 9525580, the Garda Confidential Line at 1800 666 111 or Crimestoppers at 1800-250-025.