With Fr. McDonagh and Fr. Paddy Joe Murray I welcome you to this funeral liturgy for Annie.  Especially today we are praying for her family.

Death is always a shock; even more so with it’s the death of someone close to us who has died after a long illness.

We all come here to remember a remarkable lady, to give thanks, even in our grief, for her long life of 84 years, to offer each other, and especially all those who will most miss her, the consolation of our love and our presence with you today; and to offer also the promise of eternal life.

Our consolation will be the happy memories we have of Annie; our sadness is that she has gone from us. Our sure Christian hope is that the Lord our God will welcome her home and that one day we will be united together in heaven. In the depth of our loss and hope we now pray and offer this Eucharist for Annie.

We come to God, knowing we need his mercy and forgiveness, and so in preparing to celebrate the Mass we call to mind our sins.

Lord, you suffered and died in our name. Lord, have mercy

Lord, your heart was moved with compassion for the sick and the bereaved. Christ, have mercy.

Lord, you suffer with your people at the right hand of the Father. Lord, have mercy.

And may almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to life everlasting.

Let us pray:

Almighty God and Father of all, you strengthen us by the mystery of the cross and with the sacrament of your Son’s resurrection. We pray for Annie, grant her peace. Welcome her to the eternal joy of the kingdom and give us all new hope in our sorrow that one day we shall all be with you and with each other in your home where every tear will be wiped away. Grant this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

HOMILY

A sad occasion like this today is an occasion to reminisce and to allow the mind to linger on moments from the past. Memories flood back of childhood experiences of being cared for, encouraged and loved. For her loving family the first school you ever attended was on your mother’s lap. This is a time when gratitude for a loving mother wells up in your hearts for a ‘job well done’. It is a time of awakening to an appreciation of the gifts and blessings received. It is only in hindsight that the gift becomes clear. Life is lived going forwards but understood looking backwards.

A mother’s love’s a blessing! The death of our mother brings a new kind of experience into our lives. To be without a mother is to be in a strange and lonely place. And that’s understandable. For our mother is really one’s first friend. One’s longest first friend! No friend we will ever meet on life’s journey will have been so interested or committed to us. No other friend will have known our first step or our first smile or our first tear. No other friend will know us through and through in such an intimate manner as to be called by our name – a name given in Baptism. Annie made you and shaped you. She lived for you.

To her family Annie was a rock – a model mother and grandmother and a great granny.

As Annie has died now a part of you dies as well. You are filled with sorrow because her death leaves a gap that no-one else can fill adequately. We pray that she is with the Lord and we look forward to the day when we will be reunited with her. Christ’s resurrection assures us that if we follow him we will rise again.

Annie Josephine Mackin was born on 7^th October 1927 – one of seven girls and three brothers to John and Ellen Curran.

Annie was a typical young girl who devoted most of her time to work until she met and fell in love with Dennis Mackin. Indeed they were just two weeks shy of 50 years of wedded bliss when Dennis died.

Annie was well known for her sporting prowess and indeed it has been said that her sons inherited her sense of fair play .....I’m not too sure the referees who were in charge of Tullylish matches might agree!

Annie took great pride in wearing the colours of County Down in camogie and she was a feared opponent, not just locally, but throughout the country. You can be sure that Annie and her husband Dennis will be leading the cheers on Sunday as Down go in pursuit of Sam Maguire.

Annie’s life was enriched by a very strong Catholic faith and indeed no day would be complete in Annie’s home without the daily rosary. Her devotion to Our Lady and the Legion of Mary were a source of great comfort to her in her dark days of sickness.

Annie liked nothing more than taking her usual seat for Saturday evening Mass with her aid by her side – Jacqueline Mackin – thank you Jacqueline for everything.

When Dennis passed away in March 2002, Annie lost her ‘soul mate’ and best friend ....we can take solace in the knowledge that they are reunited in heaven.

Everyone received a warm welcome at 45 Miller Park, either by the front door or back door. Many people who attended the wake remarked that Annie spent most of her life on her knees ... .either in prayer or cleaning.

The family can take heart in the knowledge that their mother, grandmother, sister was prepared for her final journey ... a testament to her readiness was the fact that Annie had everything planned for today – even to the choice of music which ahs added so much to the liturgy.

Annie would love nothing more as her legacy for her four sons, five grandsons and five granddaughters and two great-grandchildren than they would continue to embrace their faith and sense of family that meant so much to Annie.

Today we bid farewell to Annie. Despite your sense of loss, you will face the future with courage and hope, knowing that this is what your mummy would want you to do. We comfort one another in the sure confidence that for Annie life has changed, not ended. We also derive comfort from the conviction that she is at peace with God after all her suffering.

May the Lord welcome her to paradise with the words:

“Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master”

But if we are sad today, there is also much to be thankful for. We are grateful for the life she did have, grateful for all the joy she brought into our lives. For you, her loving family, there’s the  comfort of knowing that you were able to show Annie throughout her life how much you all loved her and appreciated her. You knew that time was precious in recent months. All that you could have done for her, you did. There are no regrets. In the words of the singer Garth Brooks there are ‘unanswered prayers’.

It is only to God we can turn at this time to try to find some meaning, some consolation; some hope in the situation we find ourselves in. Prayer will bring us through this time.

It was Annie’s personality, her deep faith, her warm-hearted character that drew such a deep and open response from those who knew her. Annie was loved by all. She was a generous and caring person. Thank you to Jacqueline for all your care and all the help you gave me in organising the funeral.

On behalf of Fr. Martin McDonagh and Fr. Paddy Joe Murray and all of us gathered her today, we just want to say how sorry we are for your great loss – to Annie’s family, Desmond, Patrick, Paul and Kevin, daughter-in-law Mary, Roseanne, Jacqueline and Carol, grandchildren and great grandchildren, brothers and sisters and extended family, you are all in our prayers.

May her gentle soul rest in peace.

FOR GRIEF - John O'Donohue

When you lose someone you love,
your life becomes strange,

20th September 09: Brendan Kennedy, 89 Castelview, Gilford

6th August 09: Anthony Paul Metcalfe, Castleview, Gilford

20th July 09:  Declan Nash, 21 Whinney Hill, Gilford

16th July 09:  Mrs. Alice Killoran, 9 Churchview Close, Laurencetown

16th June 09: Mrs. Alice Greene, Plantation Road, Gilford

11th June 09: Mrs. Joan Greenaway, Hillcrest Villas, Gilford

30th April 09: Mr. Hamilton Young,  Roes Hill, Laurencetown

11th March 09: Mrs. Josephine Fearon, Miller Park, Laurencetown

9th March 09: Mrs. Margaret Hanna, Knocknagore Road,Gilford

13th February 09: Mrs. Kathleen Smyth, 14 Tullylish Road, Gilford

11th February 09:  Mr. John Brady, 66 Oakdene Park, Bleary

26th January 09: Mrs. Mary Connolly, Dunbarton Bungalows, Gilford

17th January 09: Mr. Tommy Martin, Riverlee Fold, Banbridge

6th January 09: Mrs. Margaret Moore, Morrow Terrace, Clare Road, Gilford

24th December 08: Mr. Laurence Ferris, Beech Close, Bleary

20th December 08:  Mr Jackie McEvoy, Clare Road, Gilford

15th December 08: Miss Mollie Geoghegan, Laurencetown

28th November 08: Mrs. Mamie Byrne, 4 Castle Hill, Gilford

12th October 08:  Mrs. Colette Moore, Dunbarton St., Gilford

11th September 08:  Mrs. Philomena Owens, 62 Castleview, Gilford

18th August 08: Ms Kathleen Curran, 40 Miller Park, Laurencetown

29th July 08: Mr. Martin Hendrick, Roes Hill, Laurencetown

29th July 08: Mr. Eamon Magee, Banbridge Road, Gilford

17th June 08: Mrs. Josephine Doyle, 30 Castleview, Gilford

10th June 08: Mr. Terence Greene, Castle Close, Gilford

3rd May 08: Mr. Joseph McConville 49 Oakdene Park, Bleary

23rd April 08: Mr. Stephen Connolly, Castleview, Gilford

7th April 08: Mr. Owen Finnegan, Hill Street, Gilford

29th March 08: Miss Rosheen Hayes, 15 Churchview Way, Laurencetown

19th March 08: Mrs. Annie Moore, 6 Churchview Close, Laurencetown

17th March 08:  (Baby) Darcie Campbell, Dunbarton Bungalows, Gilford

15th March 08: Mrs. Kathleen Blampied, Banbridge and formerly Gilford

31st Jan 08: Miss Philomena Flanagan, Castle Close, Gilford

24th January 08: Mr. Charles McCann, Hunter's Hill Rd., Gilford

19th January 08: Mrs. Mary E Byrne Castleview, Gilford

6th January 08: Mrs. Brigid Kenwood, 5 Hillcrest Villas, Gilford

January 08: Mr. Campbell Williamson, Gilford Road, Lurgan

25th November 07: Mr. Liam Brady, 14 Churchview Way, Laurencetown

13th November 07: Mrs. Susan Teggart, Banbridge Road, Gilford

31st October 07: Mr. John McCann, Valley Lane, Waringstown

29th October 07: Mr. Joe Greene, Plantation Road, Gilford

24th October 07: Mr. Jimmy Feeney, Roes Hill, Laurencetown

20th October 07: Mrs. Bernadette Haddock, Castleview, Gilford

11th August 07: Mr. Gabriel Savage 8 Broad Oaks, Laurencetown

5th August 07: Mr. Pol Cairns, 54 The Slopes, Ballydougan

21st July 07: Ms Maisie Crothers,10 Churchview Close, L'town

16th July 07: Mrs. Rhona Fegan, 12 Churchview Close, Laurencetown

14th July 07: Mr. Michael McConville, Pineview Court, Gilford

8th May 07: Miss Norma McCleary, Castlewellan Rd Banbridge

7th May 07: Mr. Gerry Donaghy, 34 Miller Park, Laurencetown

21st April 07: Mrs. Catherine (Kate) Kelly, Castleview, Gilford

23rd March 07: Mrs. Kathleen McConville, Woodlands, Gilford

31st January 07: Mr. Gerard Finnegan, 6 Castleview, Gilford

31st Janaury 07: Mrs. Ann Todd, Knocknagore Road, Gilford

20th January 07: Canon John Treanor Warrenpoint

19th Janaury 07: Mrs. Joan Gaffney, Plantation Rd., Gilford

15th January 07: Mrs. Anne Marie McManus, 15 Beech Close, Bleary

24th December 06: Mr. Martin Monaghan, 4 School Terrace, Laurencetown

27th October 06: Mr. Jim Prentrice, The Slopes, Ballydougan

24th August 06: Mrs. Amelia Magennis Dunbarton Bungalows

20th August 06: Gerald McGrann, Hill Street, Gilford

5th August 06: Marie McParland, Magherana Park, Waringstown

3rd August 06: Josie Small, Locard Park, Gilford

7th July 06: Frank McArdle 18 Churchview Drive, Laurencetown

10th May 06: Edward Robinson Dunbarton Bungalows Gilford

16th April 06: Brian Finnegan 34 Castleview, Gilford

10th April 06: Kathleen MacFlynn, Banbridge Road, Gilford

24th March 06: Marian Byrne, 113 Castleview, Gilford

22nd March 06: Sean Broderick, Hallsmill Green

13th March 06: Eileen Owens, Castle Close, Gilford

4th March 06: Callum Larkin, Oakdene Park, Bleary

2nd February 06: Betty McCartan, 9 Drumlin Road, Donacloney

30th January 06: Mary McArdle, 18 Churchview Drive, L'town

4th January 06: Winnie Scullion, Cranny Road, Bleary