This article is from page 7 of the 2011-10-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 7 JPG
THE sister of a north Clare priest who died tragically in 2002 when his car rolled off Liscannor Pier says her brother came to her in a dream and told her that he did not commit suicide. All The Michael O’Gradys is a new book set to be published later this year by Crusheen woman Helen O’Grady. The book tells the story of several generations of the O’Grady family, including four family members named Michael who each died in tragic circumstances surrounding water.
The main focus of the book is on the death of popular local priest Fr Michael O’Grady, who died when his car rolled off Liscannor Pier on April 4, 2002. The inquest into his death was held in July of that year and returned a suicide verdict.
This verdict was contested by the family, who described it as being “perverse” and “flying in the face of the evidence”.
After the O’Grady family threatened to instigate a judicial review into the verdict, a second inquest was held in November of that year which overturned the suicide verdict and instead returned an open verdict in the case.
In the book, Fr Michael’s sister Mary describes a visit from her dead brother to her dreams on the night following the tragic accident.
“That night as I prepared for bed, I reflected on the day and I was annoyed with all and sundry. But as usual, I said some prayers. During my sleep, Fr Michael came to me,” said Helen. “Fr Michael, along with a person on either side of him, told me three times in an angry voice,
‘it was an accident’.
After that I never
doubted.”
Fr O’Grady served
in the Killaloe Dio
cese for more than
30 year after he
was first ordained
in 1969. Originally
from Crusheen, he
was Parish Priest
in the neighbour
ing parish of Tubber
when he passed away
at the age of 58.
The then Bishop of
Killaloe, Dr Willie
Walsh, spoke at his
funeral, describing him as a “a man of deep faith and of loyalty to the priesthood”.
The book closes with Helen calling for more understanding and compassion for people of vocation in Ireland. “He was a priest. It was not an easy life; a priest’s life is a demanding one but also a rewarding one. Maybe we lay people should, from now on, think differently about the priests and church in general. Instead we should pray for our priests and nuns,” she said.