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The victims of the Omagh bomb: who they were

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

By Anne Cadwallader

OMAGH — Thirty children were left motherless, twelve youngsters aged under eighteen were killed. More than half, 17 out of 28, of the dead, were Catholic, and eight were shop assistants.

Two unborn babies were killed in their mother’s womb.

The scale of the human disaster that struck Omagh is almost unthinkable. Five people remain critically-ill in hospital, a further 55 are seriously-ill with amputated limbs, shattered skulls, blinded and burnt.

All over Ireland, books of condolences are being filled by people who had thought they were hardened to tragedy. Graffiti in West Belfast reads "Bernadette. Bobby’s turning in his grave."

The victims included:

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€ Mary Grimes, 65, a mother of 11, was killed on her birthday along with her pregnant daughter Avril Monaghan, 30, who was herself a mother of three and expecting twin girls, and her daughter, Maura, 18 months.

€ Three generations of women were killed, leaving one man, Michael Monaghan without his mother-in-law, wife, daughter and unborn babies. Mrs. Grimes had left Cork 40 years ago. Avril Monaghan had been in Omagh buying her eldest child’s first school uniform.

€ Sean McLaughlin, 12, Oran Doherty, 8, and James Barker, 12, all from Buncrana, Co. Donegal. Oran was buried in a Celtic Football Club kit. James’ father had recently moved his family to Donegal from England to find a better life. Sean was an altar boy and Manchester Utd. fan who wrote a peace poem for President McAleese shortly before he was killed.

€ Rocio Abad Ramos, 23, and Fernando Blasco Baselga, both Spanish. Rocio was a biology student in charge of the visiting Spanish exchange students in Donegal who had decided to visit Omagh after a day-trip to the Ulster American Folk Park. In 1992, Fernando’s father was wounded in a Basque bomb in Spain. Rocio was on her fifth visit to Ireland. Thirteen other Spanish students were injured.

€ Philomena Skelton, 49, mother of four was in Omagh to buy school uniforms for her three daughters, Paula, 18, Tracey, 15, and Shauna 13. Her husband, Kevin, a Tyrone GAA referee, had left her a few moments before the bomb and later discovered her body in rubble.

€ Brenda Logue ,17, from the republican village of Loughmacrory took the full force of the blast when she left her mother inside a shop and went out to see what all the commotion was about. A keen GAA football player, she is survived by a twin brother.

€ Jolene Marlow, 17, was in town with her sister, , who was also badly injured. Her GCSE results were due out the week after the bombing. She was a talented GAA footballer and member of Amnesty International. Her parents requested Irish media only at her funeral.

€ Alan Radford, 17, also awaiting his GCSE results. The last body to be identified, by his brother, Paul, who had been hunting for him all day since the bombing. He had gone into town to help his mother, Marion, with shopping.

€ Brian McClory, 54, and father of three children was identified by his fingerprints. A crane driver, he did not usually go into town on Saturdays. His wife said he could bear his death if it was the last.

€ Julia Hughes, 21, was studying accountancy at Dundee University, Scotland and had taken a summer job working in a camera shop to be near her family. She had been evacuated from the shop and ran into the blast.

€ Fred White, 60, and his son Brian, 26. Fred, a keen gardener and member of the Ulster Unionist Party, had just returned from holidays and was on a shopping trip with his son who, on promotion, was due to start a new job with Omagh District Council this week.

€ Lorrayne Wilson, 15, and Samantha McFarland, 17, best friends working voluntarily in the local Oxfam shop. The two girls had planned to travel the world together. Samantha loved playing the piano and violin, and had a passion for horses. Lorrayne played hockey and wanted to be a chef.

€ Esther Gibson, 36, engaged to be married next July. Sunday school teacher with Ian Paisley’s Free Presbyterian Church who worked in a clothing factory. A niece of Oliver Gibson, the DUP assemblyman for West Tyrone.

€ Elizabeth Rushe, 57, who was at work at her pine and canework shop when she heard noise outside and went to see what it was when the bomb exploded. Her husband, Lawrence, who had known her since she was 15, called her his "soulmate."

€ Debra Ann Cartwright, 20, daughter of an RUC officer, died before knowing she had gained the A-level results she needed to attend Manchester University. Described at her funeral as a girl full of "energy, life and talent."

€ Geraldine Breslin, 35, and Veda Short, 56, both workers at Wattersons clothes shop which had been evacuated in bomb warning. Veda was a grandmother and mother of four children, a buyer of hosiery. A grandchild was born earlier on the day she died. Geraldine was a mother of one boy, Gareth, 14. She died in hospital later. Described by parish priest as "a friend to all."

€ Ann McCombe, 48, mother of two sons aged 22 and 18, a member of Mountjoy Presbyterian Church choir. A native of Co. Donegal, she had just celebrated her silver wedding anniversary and also worked in Watterson’s shop.

€ Gareth Conway, 18, from strongly nationalist village of Carrickmore, had just finished his first week’s work and was in town to buy contact lenses and a new pair of jeans before going out with his girlfriend. Due to study engineering at Magee College, Derry.

€ Aidan Gallagher, 21, was a mechanic who had built up his own business with his father and had taken Saturday off to go into Omagh to buy some boots.

€ Olive Hawkes, 60, married and a mother of two, one of eight mothers killed, always journeyed to Omagh on Saturdays from Mountfield, where former Sinn Fein councilor, now chairman of the 32 County Sovereignty Committee, Francie Mackey, also lives.

€ Breda Devine, aged 20 months, was taken into town to buy shoes for her uncle, Gary’s, wedding, when the toddler was due to be a flower-girl. Gary and his fiancee, along with Breda’s mother, were injured in the blast.

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