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"Desires I'd name to my heart most dear By Creggan's Church I'll sleep Death's silent-sleep And through my dreams the singing river hear And feel from earth the raindrops softly seep." Seamus Mor MacMurphy - poet and outlaw |
Early work on the Guide was done by Cardinal Tomás ÓFiaich and Kevin McMahon and completed with the help of Jem Murphy. Work on the development of the Guide had taken some years and it was launched at an ecumenical service in Creggan Church on 17 September 1988. Canon Clarke, Rector of Creggan Parish and President of the Local Historical Society, welcomed Cardinal O'Fiaich to the happy and ecumenical Christian occasion to launch the Guide. "It is a wonderful venture indeed", he added, "and we all owe a debt of gratitude to all who have been involved in the research of a very historic Churchyard and of the subsequent arrangements and publication of our booklet." Archbishop Eames sent his apologies for being unable to attend. In Cardinal O'Fiaich's Homily he recalled the genesis of the project, in the early 1970s and thanked the authors for the diligence of their research. After the service, the congregation retired to the Church hall for a buffet and a feast of Irish traditional music throughout the afternoon and evening. By late evening, people were saying how much they had enjoyed the service, with all the different denominations present, saying "wouldn't it be nice to have an ecumenical service every year". It was, in fact, the first of the annual services. The fifteenth will be celebrated in September 2002. The extracts here provide a little of the detail. The complete Guide can be obtained from the Secretary. See Other Publications for a list of available publications. For more information on the graveyard visit Your Place and Mine - History from Headstones |