LAST UPDATE | 4 Oct 2023

A MEMORIAL SERVICE and commemoration will take place this weekend to mark the first anniversary of the Creeslough explosion.

Ten people, including three children, were killed in the blast at the Applegreen service station in Creeslough on 7 October, 2022.

The 10 people who died in the tragedy were: Robert Garwe and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan-Garwe; fashion student Jessica Gallagher; Celtic fan Martin McGill; Sydney native James O’Flaherty; Catherine O’Donnell and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan; shop worker Martina Martin; 14-year-old Leona Harper; and carpenter Hugh Kelly.

(Top row, l to r) Leona Harper, 14, Robert Garwe, 50, Shauna Flanagan Garwe, five, Jessica Gallagher, 24, and James O’Flaherty, 48, and (bottom row, left to right) Martina Martin, 49, Hugh Kelly, 59, Catherine O’Donnell, 39, her 13-year-old son James Monaghan, and Martin McGill, 49, died in the blast PA PA

A memorial service and commemoration will take place at the site of explosion this coming Saturday at 3pm.

A Mass will be then offered in the local church on Saturday evening at 7.30pm to those who died in the tragedy.

St Micheal’s Church in Creeslough added that the Mass will also be offered for those who were injured and in thanksgiving for all who responded to the tragedy.

St Michael’s Church has described events this coming week as an opportunity for “our communities and for those who responded to privately gather to pray and remember their loved ones”.

The Creeslough parish thanked the public for its “ongoing support and prayers”, adding: “Our journey of recovery continues and we ask for your prayers in the days and weeks ahead.”

In a statement to The Journal, a spokesperson from Donegal County Council said it is in the process of carrying out work to the hoarding around the site of the tragedy.

The spokesperson said this follows “engagement with the property owners, the families directly impacted by the tragedy and in particular those families who lost loved ones”, as well as the wider community in Creeslough and An Garda Síochána.

This work will include the erection of a 4.8m high hoarding along the site frontage, which will be set 2.5m back from an exiting yellow line on the edge of the road to create a safe footway for pedestrians.

The hoarding will include a space to accommodate flowers and other mementos.

The Council said it is “very conscious that the first anniversary of the tragedy will soon be upon us and is committed to completing this work in advance of this”

The spokesperson added: “As the remaining buildings within the site are in private ownership, the Council has no plans to demolish these buildings at this time.”