"However, fate was to intervene with the disappearance of her beloved son Philip, and her life was to change forever."
"She accepted it, even if it was a heavy cross for her to bear. In all the while I knew her, never once did I hear her complain."
"But, she would also be the first to say that it was the support given to her and her family from her friends, neighbours, the whole parish, that made her cross that bit lighter for her to carry."
Philip Cairns went missing on October 23, 1986, at age 13 while travelling to Coláiste Éanna in Rathfarnham, Dublin. His mother died suddenly but peacefully, surrounded by family. She was predeceased by her husband Philip and was mother to six and grandmother to six. A funeral mass was held at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Ballyroan. Her son Eoin recalled her upbringing on a farm in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny, her move to Dublin where she met her husband, and how the disappearance of her son became a lifelong cross she accepted with faith, dignity and community support.
Read at Irish Independent
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