Who knows why he did what he did, but the nightmare of their lives in the last two years has to have been a contributory factor.The teenage group is well dispersed now, all making their way in life - all those abroad in America, Canada and European countries, they all came home to pay their respects. Bearing in mind the cost of booking a flight at short notice, it's an amazing tribute to him that all the "lads" felt that primal need for home so they could mourn their pal together.
It's a tradition here that coffins of locals are carried from a certain part of the town to the church, some feat as it is all quite steeply uphill and there are steep steps to the door of the church. This tradition is not happening so much now, as the generation that did the carrying has passed on itself. However, a huge crowd awaited the coffin today and Fiachra was carried to the church by his friends and family preceded by a lone piper. The church was absolutely crammed, I went up to the gallery so I got a seat and I've never ever seen people other than the choir in the gallery, let alone every seat filled and people standing. In the heat you can imagine what it was like.
The music was so moving, no church music - they had a guitarist and banjo player and the guitarist sang "Hallelujah" before mass started. During the mass the U2 song "Sometimes you can't make it on your own" was played, it's a very moving song that Bono wrote when his Dad was very ill. One contributor read a lovely poem, I had not heard it before, perhaps she wrote it herself. Just after communion, a female singer sang A Parting Glass unaccompanied, an old traditional song. Then just before the coffin was brought out of the church, the U2 song Miss Sarajevo was played, apparently Fiachra's very favourite song, and he loved to sing along in a Pavarotti-type voice. His partner (goodness knows where she got the strength) said a few words and described how they had been together 17 years and the births of their children.
I don't go to mass, more or less gave up on the Catholic Church a good few years ago, but I still believe in a God - and there is no doubt that when it comes to death, the simple funeral ritual is so comforting and everyone there was able to pay their respects and say goodbye in time-honoured fashion.
That poor man, so sad that he couldn't see a way through whatever was troubling him.
