By Lisa Ramsden
The Downpatrick grandfather killed in his home earlier this month was laid to rest on Saturday.
Wearing the colours of his beloved Liverpool FC, Stephen Brannigan, who was 56 and from Marian Park, was buried at Struell Cemetery following his Requiem Mass at St Brigid’s Church. During the service, a priest hit out at what he described as the aggression and violence “creeping like a cancer through the bones of our families, our towns and our society.”
The body of Mr Brannigan was found in a house in Marian Park in the town on Sunday, 10 August. Just a few hours earlier, Canon John Murray was attacked at St Patrick’s Church in Downpatrick town centre. He was just days away from celebrating his last Mass before retirement. Canon Murray, according to the diocese, “continues to make good progress.” He remains in hospital receiving treatment for serious injuries but is comfortable and stable.
One man has been charged with murder and attempted murder.
Mr Brannigan’s funeral took place in the same church where the community had gathered six days earlier for a prayer vigil within just hours of the tragedy unfolding. A floral tribute in the hearse read simply ‘Daddy’. Some mourners wore Liverpool jerseys and carried photographs of the deceased. Mr Brannigan’s coffin was carried into the church as a soloist sang Amazing Grace.
Addressing mourners, Fr Timothy Bartlett, a relative of the deceased, said the events of the previous weekend had been “shocking and very brutal.” “The peace of an ordinary summer Sunday morning was cruelly shattered by acts of vicious and senseless violence,” he said. “Totally unprovoked, this violence was directed against two people who had simply reached out to help someone they believed to be in distress.”
Mr Brannigan’s family have described him as a “beloved” father and grandfather. During his homily, Fr Bartlett touched on his life, recalling how the deceased would help his neighbours or tend to the grave of his late wife Dorenda, which he said summed up his “kind, thoughtful” personality.
Addressing the immediate family directly, Fr Bartlett said: “For all of you, the cruel, shocking and brutally violent events of last Sunday morning have not only left you numb, dazed, and broken-hearted. As Bishop Alan [McGuckian] said earlier this week, it has inevitably left you with so many questions. With so many whys? So many what ifs? And with the sudden challenge of, what now?”
Read the full story in the current issue of the Mourne Observer.
To read the digital edition, download the Mourne Observer app – for apple click here – for android click here
