Michaela McAreavey death mourned by thousands | World news | The Guardian

Quote:

Just 19 days after she was married in St Malachy's chapel in the village of Ballymacilroy, County Tyrone, Michaela McAreavey was taken back there today for her funeral. Along with her coffin, four items that summed up her life were brought into the church: a family photograph, a Fáinne pin symbolising her love of the Irish language, a Pioneer pin to show she abstained from alcohol and a red rose, a reminder of 2004 of when she represented Tyrone in the Rose of Tralee beauty contest. Thousands of people lined the route as the funeral cortège made its way through the Tyrone countryside with the hearse flanked by members of the Tyrone Gaelic football team, which is managed by her father, Mickey Harte. Harte helped support his son-in-law, John McAreavey, who had married Michaela at the same church on 30 December. She was murdered a week ago in a hotel room in Mauritius after she disturbed thieves robbing her honeymoon apartment. Her uncle, the Catholic bishop of Dromore, John McAreavey, officiated at the couple's wedding. Today, he addressed 300 people packed into the church and the thousands watching the ceremony on television screens erected outside. He said the couple lived for each other and the entire country had been shaken by the tragedy. "Even those of us who are older and who have had some experience of tragedy have been shaken to the core by what has happened. We are still in a state of shock," he said.

I cannot stress this enough: WTF?! I've been to military parades that have involved fewer people.

Is this just the catch-all Celtic fondness for death and misery in general? ("Eh, ma! Look, they're sayin there's gonna be a funeral on telly. That'll make a nice outing fer the kids.") I mean IRA funerals got thousands of spectators too, but I always assumed that was out of political sentiment rather than anything else. Or is Tyrone so inbred that these thousands of people are all close relatives?

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