This was the third funeral in as many weeks, and the brightness of the day could do little to lighten the leaden weight that seemed to have settled in my guts.The funeral was even better attended than Leon’s. Janet had known a lot of people and I recognized faces from the various papers and telev...
They met at a political rally at which van Roost spoke, comparing the conflict in Northern Ireland with the conflict in the Middle East, while Duffy sold copies of Socialist Worker to an indifferent crowd. They now lived in an area of Derry known as Foyle Springs, in a modest semi-detached house ...
Earth had compacted around the legs and the right arm, so they began digging it back, gently, working always to preserve the dignity of the dead man’s remains. Millar had suggested quite early in the process that we should inform next of kin. I drove to Coneyburrow Road an...
His face was gaunt and yellowed, his eyes bloodless, his chin sandpapered with stubble so light in colour, it appeared grey. His left shoulder was bulky with the dressing beneath his T-shirt, his arm still suspended in a sling. I smelled hospital disinfectant as he took the seat opposite. Looking...
The air felt superheated, the atmosphere inside the church warm and heavy. As we were leaving, I saw Agnes Doherty making her way to her car, a young boy holding her hand. When she saw me, she stopped. ‘You must be Sean, is that right?’ I said to the boy as I approached. ‘...
Fiona told her that she had to go on and to tell her sister that she would call her later, something which they both knew was untrue even as the girl said it. She waved and smiled mildly as she moved through the automatic doors out into the car park. Only then did John app...
His name, Crosagh, referred to the pockmarks on his face which were a feature of his family. Ironically, the name applied equally well to the topography of area where he had lived, the thick bogland of which undulated along the valley. The house that O’Dowd had valued was situated on the outer ed...