Re: Ned Sweeney-NYC-RIP -- Stormont Watch

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Date Posted: Tue, Jan 08 2008, 18:14:53 PST
Author: IRISH RETURN
Subject: Re: Ned Sweeney-NYC-RIP
In reply to: EXTRA FROM NYC 's message, "Re: Ned Sweeney-NYC-RIP" on Sat, Jan 05 2008, 21:49:23 PST

Ned Sweeney, RIP - An Irish Homecoming Inbox
Irish Homecoming

What follows is an account of Ned�s second funeral i.e. the Irish version, as we saw it.

By John O'Riordan

On Saturday morning last, Ned arrived in Shannon accompanied by Mary, Sarah, Rachel, Anne, Adrian and those family members who had traveled over from Ireland, and was greeted by about 50-60 other family and friends. While they were obviously very impressed and grateful for the turnout, as expected, it proved to be a very emotional reunion. The latest leg of Ned�s final journey began with a song as he was led to the hearse, before the cortege proceeded to Kathleen�s (Ned�s sister) house outside Boherlahan in Tipperary, stopping, briefly, outside Ned�s home place on the way.

By all accounts it had been a pretty uneventful flight until shortly before landing when the plane was struck by lightening causing enough damage to warrant making the national news and papers. Ned had arrived with a bang!
A couple of the travelers mentioned the courtesy and assistance of the flight attendants with one air hostess going so far as to agree to take a Heineken to a friend �down below� �..until she figured out what �down below� meant.

Of course, there was one traveler (In the interests of national security, he cannot be named) who could have had an interesting evening with the JFK security personnel. Having been given Ned�s darts by Mary as they left the apartment, he put them in his pocket, with the intention of packing them safely later. However the next time he thought of them was as he taking off his belt and shoes at the security gate. What to do with such dangerous weapons? Nothing for it but to roll them up in his jacket, say a quick prayer, and send all through the x-ray machine. Thankfully, something distracted the guard�s attention for those few seconds so he missed the contraband.

On Saturday evening, a wake was held in Kathleen and Monty�s house once a window had been removed so the casket could be brought inside. About 100 people were present for the rosary and Mass, after which Adrian regaled Ned�s and Mary�s brothers with some hilarious work stories, as they kept Ned company in the sitting room.

All who had gone to New York spoke in glowing terms of all the help they had been given, and of their surprise at the size of the attendances. Indeed, reading through the pages and pages of signatures in the book of condolences brought back memories of people we hadn�t seen, or in some cases even heard of, in years. Of course Mary, who never misses a trick, was quick to point out that many hadn�t even signed in, and started listing off even more names.

On Sunday, from 4 to 7, Ned was laid out in the morgue in Upperchurch, having stopped at the home that he and Mary had purchased in the late 90�s, on the way there. It was a wet, cold, miserable evening, but that didn�t deter anyone from showing up. Indeed, at about 5.30, when the undertaker closed the doors for 10 minutes so that the families could take a short break, the queue quickly grew out through the carpark and up the street, even though it was pouring at the time.

Shortly after 7pm, as one mourner clapped, and as a contingent of retired UN soldiers marched alongside, a lone piper led the tricolour covered casket carried by eight burly pallbearers through the wind and drizzle along the 100 yard walk from the morgue to the church. A miserable night be-fitting the occasion. As the soldiers stood to attention, the brothers of Ned and Mary struggled to carry that weighty casket up the steps to the door. Once the church was full, the local parish priest led the congregation through the rosary, and various other prayers. After the five decades etc, many of us adjourned across the street for tea, sandwiches, and five pints etc.

Sunday night continued wet, and very windy, with many branches and some trees falling. However, while today dawned a lot calmer, it was still very wet.

At 11.30 all gathered again in Upperchurch chapel to celebrate Ned�s final mass. As before, the church was full, but not with necessarily the same faces. In addition to Bridget and Elaine who flew in from New York this morning, there were many others who traveled long distances to be there. Thinking about it later coming home in the car, I realized that many counties were represented over the weekend. On Saturday night I met people who had come from Galway, Offaly, and Monaghan, on Sunday, some from Limerick, Cork, Clare, Wexford, Donegal & Dublin (including one man who got a train from Dublin to Thurles, spent an hour, and headed back to catch the last train), and today, more from Limerick, from Dublin, Westmeath, Leitrim, & Wicklow. Today also included one couple that, I believe, were meeting Mary for the first time, and never knew Ned, but had to come because of what their daughter thought of Mary in New York.

In a beautiful ceremony, where some wonderful singing was accompanied by an organ, guitar, banjo, and three violins, Ned�s eldest brother John Sweeney, and Grainne Corbett did the readings, and his nieces and nephews on both sides read the bidding prayers, with the wife of one of his six brothers struggling to get through a very moving poem.

In his homily, the priest attempted to help us understand the answer to �why??� Why was Ned, a person who meant so much, and will be so missed, taken at this stage of his life? In fairness to him he tried to explain that there are many things in this life that we cannot be expected to understand; that they are simply part of God�s greater plan, and will make sense some day. If Mary and the girls think back on his words some day in the future, they might get comfort, but I don�t think his efforts could provide much consolidation today.

Then, after communion, came a moment that Ned must have had some involvement in��.�.
Just as the tear ducts were stretching to their limits, as the priest was finishing a prayer with�.�May he rest in peace�, the next words out of his mouth were that typically Irish phrase�..�Will the owner of car number 05 C XXX please move it immediately because it is causing a serious obstruction��..a genuine request because the gate to the graveyard was blocked but one that still brought a smile to many faces.

And when you thought that there couldn�t possibly be any more sympathizers, another 50 people streamed to the top of the church to offer their condolences.

And so the piper led Ned one last time, as he was again flanked by the Irish soldiers, on his way to the graveyard. Thankfully, the rain held off, and sun came out from behind the clouds, although it was bitterly cold. After some prayers, and a formal folding of the flag by the soldiers, the brothers and Adrian lowered the casket gently into the grave, and I know I don�t have to describe the attendees� emotions. Once Mary, Sarah and Rachel had dropped in flowers, the grave was covered temporarily with all of the wreaths � We heard over 30 from New York alone.

As an army bugler played the last post, the soldiers stood at attention, and then came Amhran Na Bhfiann.

I have sang Ireland�s national anthem on many occasions, some more moving than others, and I pride myself in singing it with gusto, but as the bagpiper played Amhran Na Bhfiann and walked away, for the first time in my life, I couldn�t trust myself to even attempt a note.

Finally, Ned�s brother Greg spoke to the crowd, joking that he hoped he�d make a better job of today�s speech than he did as Ned�s best man, or indeed as Ned did as his. He thanked everyone for their sympathy, and for the work had been done over the past week. He made special mention of all in New York who took care of Mary, Sarah, Rachel and Anne until the family arrived. He spoke of Ned�s pride in his daughters � his little princesses � that he wanted Sarah to be a vet and Rachel to be a jockey, and of Ned�s attempts to better Joe Dolan, with his shirt open, and his chest stuck out as he belted out �oh me, oh my, you�re such a good looking woman�. He even mentioned that in some of his weaker moments Ned admitted that the song was about Mary.

On behalf of the families, he also invited us all back for a �cup of tea� to the local hall.
�A cup of tea� Upperchurch style turned out to be a full sit down dinner for a few hundred followed by the finest of desserts baked by the locals.

And so it was over � Ned, never one for the understatement, had two of the larger funerals seen in a while, one on each side of the Atlantic. He will be sorely missed.

Go ndeana Dia trocaire air.
Ar dheis D� go raibh a anam d�lis.

John O'Riordan resided in Sunnyside, Queens, New York for several years. In 2006, he and wife Valerie with their four children returned to live in Ireland.

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