Castlefin parishioners keep all-night vigil before beloved priest is laid to rest

Parishioners in Castlefin kept an unplanned vigil for Fr Oliver Crilly before his funeral mass in Derry.

The remains of the late Fr Crilly returned to St Mary's Church, Lavey, Co Derry, following his death on Saturday, and such was the high esteem he was held in, Parishioners kept an all-night Sunday vigil.

Parish Administrator Fr Ciarán Hegarty said that initially the plan was to close the Church at 10pm, then it was midnight but the people loved Fr Crilly so much that they requested that the Church remain open all night and they volunteered to sit and pray at Fr Crilly's open coffin in the presence of the Lord in the Tabernacle.

Following the funeral mass today, Fr Crilly was laid to rest - with his late parents - at St Mary's, Lacey, Churchyard. His selfless, yet comprehensive, nature was recalled at his funeral mass at the Church of Saint Oliver Plunkett, Greenlough.

Just last week, Fr Crilly was due to celebrate his Diamond Jubilee of Ordination to the Priesthood with a Mass of Thanksgiving and a Parish Celebration but it had to be postponed due to his hospitalisation.

A native of Lavey, he spent the last 10 years of what should have been his retirement actively serving as Priest in Residence in the Parish of Urney and Castlefin, which covers the Border Parish region of Castlefin, Doneyloop and the Tyrone village of Clady.

Fr Crilly is best remembered as a regular on BBC Radio Ulster and from being a teacher at St Patrick’s College, Maghera.

Fr Crilly spent the last 10 years of what should have been his retirement actively serving as Priest in Residence in the Parish of Urney and Castlefin, which covers the Border Parish region of Castlefin, Doneyloop in Donegal and the Tyrone village of Clady. He retired as Parish Priest of Greenlough in Derry at the mandatory retirement age of 75, but continued to minister.

Fr Michael Doherty was Fr Crilly’s Curate in Melmount Parish, Strabane, and led the homily, saying “ it would take a week to explain all he has done for others over the years.”

“It would take more than a few days to recall all Oliver’s achievements,” Fr Doherty said. “In fact, if we had invited people who were involved in all his different activities, we would have been asked to bring sandwiches along with you today. He was involved in so much during the years.

“His achievements, his talents, his interests, it is hard to know where to start. Oliver the man, Oliver the brother, Oliver the priest, the scholar, the publisher, the author, the linguist, the broadcaster, the historian, the educationalist, the humanist, the cartoonist, and the caricaturist and in more reason years his interest in cutting stone. There are probably many more.”

A Community Mass was held on Monday afternoon at St Mary’s Church, Castlefin for much-loved Fr Crilly, who was born July 5, 1940, from the Parish of Lavey and was ordained at St Patrick's College of Maynooth on June 20, 1965.

He was one of eight men from Lavey Parish, who studied for the priesthood at the same time more than six decades ago and spent several years of his early Priesthood in Dublin as Catholic Communications Director and worked with Veritas Publications.

The highly-regarded cleric was a cousin of Francis Hughes and Thomas McElwee, who came from the neighbouring parish of Bellaghy. Both men were among ten republicans who died during the 1981 Hunger Strike as part of a prison protest for political status.

During that tumultuous period, Fr Crilly was involved with the Irish Commission for Justice and Peace, a Catholic church-linked group that held H-Block meetings with the Hunger Strikers in a bid to find a resolution.

Fr Doherty went on to reflect on his time with Fr Crilly in Melmount in 1989 and how the priest played his part in an attempt to find a solution to the Hunger Strikes.

“They took a toll on him as a relative and a priest,” Fr Doherty added, “His was a world at that time that took in troubled times. Especially in his adopted town of Strabane. Oliver laboured with the Irish Commission for Justice and Peace.

“To try and achieve those ideals. He worked with Presbyterian leaders and the Parades Commission to try and find a solution to contentious parades.

Not only did Fr Crilly play a huge role at home internationally, he travelled to Uganda with Trocaire.

Fr Doherty said: “He travelled there after their atrocious civil war and after the massacres that took place there. He wanted to see what Trocaire could do to help. What he saw had a great impact on him. Oliver was never a strong man physically but he still managed a fundraising cycle to Knock.

“He let nothing stop him from trying to achieve while managing one of the largest parishes in this diocese for 10 years.”

Parishioners also heard how he got his deep faith from his family, in particular his grandmother.
Fr Doherty concluded the homily saying a quote that Fr Crilly often himself used at funerals. “He fulfilled his baptism.”

He said: “That is very true of Oliver, a full life, a life lived for God, and for others. A Christian life and a Christian death. That is the legacy Fr Oliver Crilly has left for his family and to all who knew him.”

Fr Pat O’Hagan led the prayers, in both Irish and English, which Fr Crilly had said throughout his 60 years of priesthood.

A final farewell was said by Archbishop Eamon Martin, who gave thanks for Fr Crilly’s life.

“We are gathered here on the feast day of St Oliver Plunkett to give Oliver the final commendation,” Archbishop Martin said. “It is good to remember the saintly Archbishop Oliver Plunkett, who was such a witness to the faith. He was also a reconciler and a peacemaker. I think it is very fitting indeed that we gather here on this feast day to say our final farewell to Father Oliver.

“I would like to express my sympathy not just on my behalf, but all archbishops and to give thanks for his ministry not just as a priest in the Diocese of Derry but indeed throughout the country. For his work, we are truly grateful.”