Fr George McLaughlin was ‘rock that people could turn to’ following fishing tragedy

Former Moville parish priest Fr George McLaughlin acted as a rock that people turned to when the community was struck by the Carrickatine tragedy, mourners at his funeral have been told.

Fr McLaughlin died on Saturday at the age of 92. He had been living in Greencastle where he had retired after serving as parish priest of Moville for 20 years. 

The Buncrana-born priest was ordained by Archbishop John Charles McQuaid in St Patrick’s College, Maynooth in June 1956 and served the priesthood for 67 years.

Fr McLaughlin's first parish was in Belfast before moving back to the Derry Diocese to serve in Strabane.

In 1958 Fr McLaughlin was transferred to the Long Tower parish where he stayed until the following year before being transferred to St Mary’s Church in Creggan when it opened. During his time in Creggan, he was among the clergy who attended to the dead and dying on Bloody Sunday and was a celebrant at the funerals.

In 1978 Father George moved to the Derry city parish of St Patrick’s in Pennyburn, where he spent nine years.

He then returned to his native Inishowen, to begin the role of parish priest in Moville, serving in that role between 1987 and 2007, before retiring to Greencastle.

In 2016 Fr McLaughlin celebrated his 60th anniversary of his ordination with a Mass in St Pius X Church, Moville.

In his homily at the requiem Mass at St Pius X Church on Monday, which was concelebrated with Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown and Moville parish priest Fr Eddie Gallagher, Monsignor Andrew Dolan said Fr McLaughlin was regarded “as a priest who took care of his people and treated them very evenly”. 

Monsignor Dolan said Fr McLaughlin was “called upon to be the rock that people could turn to” following the sinking of the Carrickatine, the Greencastle fishing boat which went down with the loss of its six crew in 1995. 

“It was something that remained with Fr George for a long time,” he said. 

Monsignor Dolan described Fr Mclaughlin as “the man who had time for everything and everybody”.

“He was in many ways larger than life itself and lived life to the full for as long as he was able.”

Recalling Fr McLaughin’s time in Creggan, where he spent 19 years, Monsignor Dolan said he established a strong bond with people in the area because “he walked the streets, knocked on doors, visited people and blessed their new homes”.

During his time in Derry Fr McLaughlin was detained by the British army for two nights and came under gunfire while carrying the dead body of a young man that had been shot by the army.

“No preparation, no training for the priesthood could ever prepare a man for that type of mission,”  Monsignor Dolan said. 

Bishop  McKeown told the congregation that Fr McLaughlin was a member of a generation of priests who served in Northern Ireland and tried to build a sustainable future “amidst endless strife and sad news”.

The son of the late Winifred and John McLaughlin, Buncrana, Fr McLaughlin was predeceased by his brothers, Charlie, Edward, William, John, Paddy and Neil. He is survived by his brother Andy, his nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews.