AN UNCLE of a 24-year-old man stabbed to death last week warned at his funeral yesterday against any anger over his death.
Stephen Guthrie made his appeal during the funeral Mass at Ballyheane, Castlebar, for father of three Frankie Heneghan who was killed in Kiltimagh, Co Mayo.
Mr Heneghan died in a laneway off Main Street, Kiltimagh early on Wednesday morning last week. He had been stabbed a number of times.
Fintan McKenna (23) has since been charged with murder and is to appear again in court in September.
At the funeral Mass for Mr Heneghan in a packed St Patrick’s Church, Ballyheane, Mr Guthrie said no morphine or painkiller would ease the pain of those left behind. But he warned against bitterness.
“Anger doesn’t do anybody any good,” Mr Guthrie said. “It festers in people. “If you have anger inside, you don’t have room for peace, for contentment.”
He thanked those people in Kiltimagh who had the “strength and courage” to come forward and provide information to gardaí about the fatal stabbing.
He also thanked officers of every rank involved in the investigation and particularly the young officer who held his nephew in his arms as he lay dying.
It was, Mr Guthrie continued, awful that such a tragic event had to happen in such a small and lovely town as Kiltimagh.
Mr Guthrie added that the love, kindness and support shown the bereaved families in the days since the incident had been unbelievable.
The chief celebrant of the funeral Mass was Fr Charles Guthrie, a cousin of the victim.
Fr Guthrie was assisted by a number of clergymen including the parish priest of Castlebar, Fr John Cosgrove, the parish priest of Kiltimagh, Fr Paddy Kilcoyne, and the parish priest of Balla, Fr Denis Carney.
In a homily, Fr Guthrie asked the congregation to hold on to the memories of the precious times of his nephew’s life, such as last Saturday week when he went fishing with his daughter Chloe and she landed a fish which her dad helped her bring ashore.
The gifts carried to the altar by the dead man’s young children included a fishing rod and hooks and photographs of his three children who were, according to one of the officiating priests, “the apple of his eye”.
Apart from his partner, Grace, and their children, Mr Heneghan is survived by his parents, Brendan and Eileen Heneghan, and five brothers and three sisters.
After the Mass, the coffin was carried shoulder high to its last resting place in Ballyheane cemetery.