THE first funerals are to take place in Co Donegal today of the 10 victims of the Creeslough gas explosion tragedy.
The services are taking place as investigations into the huge blast continue at the site of the Applegreen service station on the outskirts of the village of Creeslough.
The explosion last Friday afternoon also injured another eight people, including one man who was left in a critical condition and is being treated in hospital in Dublin.
As the county comes to terms with the scale of the tragic loss, the first funeral for victims begins this morning.
A funeral Mass will be held for 24-year-old fashion designer Jessica Gallagher in Creeslough's St Michael's Church at 11am, with a burial service afterwards at Doe Cemetery.
Ms Gallagher, who was from the Killoughcarran area, had recently taken up a job in Belfast and had been visiting her boyfriend at the apartment complex which was damaged in the blast.
Her family has asked for donations to be made in lieu of flowers to Donegal Hospice.
At 2pm in St Michael's Church, the funeral for Martin McGill will be held before burial at Doe Cemetery. Mr McGill, who was 49 and originally from Scotland, had moved to the area to care for his elderly mother Mary.
A funeral notice for Mr McGill said he would be missed by his mother along with "sisters Marie Louise and Caroline, brothers in law, Mathew and Iain, nieces and nephews and extended family and friends".
Tomorrow will see a joint funeral held at St Michael's Church for Catherine O'Donnell and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan at 2pm.
Ms O'Donnell, who was 39 and lived in the Kilmacrennan area, will be buried with her son following the service at Doe Cemetery.
A funeral notice for Ms O'Donnell said she will be missed by "her beloved daughter Sinead, mother Margaret, partner Charlie Flood, brothers, sisters, extended family and friends", while a notice for James said he will be "sorely missed by his beloved father Chris Monaghan, Grandparents, Charlie, aunts, uncles, extended family and friends.
Meanwhile, Wednesday will also see a funeral take place for James O'Flaherty at St Mary's Church in the Derrybeg area of Co Donegal.
The 48-year-old father-of-one, who was originally from Sydney in Australia but living in the Rinclevan area of Dunfanaghy, will be buried afterward the service at Magheragallon Cemetery.
Details of the funerals for 50-year-old Robert Garwe and five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe have yet to be confirmed, along with that of 14-year-old Leona Harper.
Speaking at a Mass in St Michael's on Sunday, Bishop of Raphoe Alan McGuckian said the community was "living through a nightmare of shock and horror" since the explosion.
He offered prayers for the loved ones of the 10 victims and along with "everyone, here in Creeslough and throughout the country who feels helpless and shaken by the shock of what has happened".
