Tyrone crash victim remembered as a “beautiful soul”

Two people were still being cared for in hospital on Sunday following a fatal road collision in Co Tyrone. Three died and four were injured when a minivan collided with a lorry on the A5 near Augnacloy on Thursday morning. They were all members of the same family travelling back from a funeral in Corby in England.

Julia McSorley (75) was buried on Sunday following a funeral service in Glenock, Newtownstewart. Her nephew and niece, brother and sister, father-of-two Dan and Christine McKane, a mother-of-three and grandmother to two, will be buried on Monday in Strabane.

Julia McSorley

Mourners gathered St Eugene’s Church in Glenock for Mrs McSorley’s funeral service. A community was “engulfed in grief”, Fr Roland Colhoun told the mourners.

She is “a beautiful soul” and “one of the most virtuous women of our generation, Fr Calhoun said. “The loss of three members of a family, injury and death side-by-side, the hospitalisation of four,” he said. “We include in our prayers for Mass today Colette and Ina, who are still in hospital, and William and Anne Marie, who have been discharged.”

The two still in hospital are the sisters of Dan and Christine. Mrs McSorley was a “dynamic”, “selfless”, religious woman who had battled cancer and buried many family members, but “never entertained bitterness”.

The funeral service was held for Julia McSorley. Picture by Niall Carson/PA

He added: “Julia never wanted to be first, but in many ways she was number one.

She was described at the wake as one in a million. Number one in the hearts of her family. Even her door number is ‘one’.”

Mrs McSorley is survived by her husband Patsy, her daughters Maria and Julie, her sons Patsy, Shane and Colin, 15 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Those gathered also heard that the couple’s baby son Jordan died in infancy in 1995. Fr Colhoun said Mrs McSorley had attended pilgrimages, visiting shrines in Knock, Lourdes, and Rome among others, and asked people to bless themselves with holy water as they left her house.

“We honour Julia McSorley’s moral remains with Requiem Mass knowing that this beautiful soul loved the Mass and was deeply devoted to the holy eucharist,” he said. Fr Colhoun added: “Key events of her life took place on Sundays. Julia was born, baptised and made her confirmation, each of these on a Sunday.

It is fitting that her Requiem Mass is also on a Sunday in the church where she began her faith, prayed regularly and persevered constantly.

Julia McSorley was buried in the cemetery next to St Eugene’s Church in Glenock. Picture by Niall Carson/PA

“No words that you or I can say will do justice to this outstanding person, Julia McSorley, Julia McKane.” A representative of President Michael D Higgins was in attendance at the funeral.

Mrs McSorley was laid to rest in the cemetery beside the church, alongside the remains of her son Jordan. On Monday, a joint funeral service will be held for Dan and Christine McKane in The Church of The Immaculate Conception in Strabane.

Christine McKane

It will take place on Monday at noon in The Church of The Immaculate Conception, with burial afterwards in Strabane Cemetery.

Dan McKane

The tragedy has led to renewed calls for the A5, the main road between Dublin and the north west, to be upgraded.It was essential the road is upgraded, the Department for Infrastructure told The Irish News. “The department is acutely aware of the collision history along the existing road.

Too many lives have been lost and our sincere condolences go out to all those families who have lost a loved one.

We also sympathise with those who have been injured in road traffic collisions,” a department spokesperson said.

“Subject to the successful completion of all statutory procedures and environmental assessments and the availability of funding, construction work could commence during 2024.”