Deirdre Harkin 1970-2025

By Aodhán Harkin

LAST Tuesday morning, (25th March) the lives of the Harkin family changed dramatically with the sad and sudden passing of our only sister and the youngest sibling in the house, Deirdre, Fionnuala aged just fifty-four years old.

It’s difficult for me to express my words on our great loss, I have penned many tributes and obituaries since commencing this column almost two decades ago and this is by far the most difficult that I have had to undertake.

Deirdre was well known across Strabane and beyond and like me was a proud Head of the Town person where she was born and reared and sadly passed away in Townsend Street which the older people will tell you is the real Head of the Town as opposed to the housing developments sited on the Spout Road or at Springhill Park.

Deirdre was born on 5th July 1970 in Altnagelvin Hospital Derry, the only one of the family not born at home and was often slagged about being a Derry woman as opposed to Tyrone. Being the only girl and the wean of the house she was spoilt rotten. Growing up originally in Patrician Villas prior to moving to Townsend Street on 1st April 1983, the Camus Parish was her life attending the Convent Primary before moving to the Convent Grammar in 1982 where she excelled in many subjects and had a great love of the Irish Language at school.

She alongside some of her friends would regularly recite the Rosary as Gaeilge at commemoration events and at the Grotto in Townsend Street. Growing up amidst the conflict, which was ensuing all around us, Deirdre could regularly be found undertaking collections for the Prisoners, something which she and her friends performed for many years around the Head of the Town area and in the local pubs.

She was a proud Republican and had a great love of all things Irish and would have been so proud that the local Molloy-Devlin-McCauley Sinn Féin Cumann provided her with a guard of honour and placed the National flag on her coffin for her final journey.

That apart, Deirdre loved life and for me being involved in the GAA in Strabane and Tyrone for the past four decades she was an ardent supporter of both Sigersons and the Red Hand teams.

Just over a month ago, she travelled with Fountain Street Community Development Association as part of a Good Relations project to Croke Park and she loved the event and especially so when we stopped off on our way home at the graveside of Dr George Sigerson to lay flowers on the occasion of the centenary of his death.

She recently purchased her tickets for Sigersons Club Development Grand Draw as she did with every fund-raising initiative that the club undertook down through the years. She was also very generous in supporting her local parish and indeed local charities as we found out during the wake and funeral with huge crowds of people from far and near making their way to the family home and to her funeral Mass in the Church of the Immaculate Conception.

For anyone who knew Deirdre, they would testify that she called a spade a spade, what was in usually came out especially on social media which will be a hell of a lot quieter now following her passing.

She had an excellent group of friends who I won’t name individually for fear of omitting anyone, but as a family we are indebted to you all for the friendship that you shared over the course of many years. You all done her proud right to the interment in Strabane Cemetery and your final tribute song was unbelievable to say the least!

On behalf of the Harkin Clan, I wish to extend a massive word of thanks to the huge numbers of people who called to the family home, sent messages of sympathy and support from all corners of the world, we received messages from, the USA, China, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Dubai, England, Scotland, Wales and from many other areas including the many Gaels of Tyrone who came in their droves.

We might battle it out on the pitch, but whenever there’s a crisis you can be sure that our greatest rivals in Urney, Owen Roes, Clann na nGael, Castlederg, Glenelly, Aghyaran and Naomh Eoghan will rally around and that they did last week yet again.

Warmest thanks to everyone who assisted us as a family last week, the emergency services in particular, the Doctors and staff at Mourneside Health Centre, Jude Maguire and all at Quigley’s Funeral Directors, our great neighbours in Townsend Street and Deirdre’s great circle of friends who were a tower of strength to us all during an extremely sad and difficult time.

She would have been so proud and overwhelmed of the beautiful send-off that she received, the music in the Church of the Immaculate Conception from Blondie and Hairdoo was amazing, and I’d also like to pay tribute to our Parish Priest Fr Michael McCaughey, Fr Decland Boland, Fr Eugene Boland, Fr Mickey Doherty and Monsingor Andy Dolan for their spiritual help and guidance.

Deirdre is now back in the arms of her loving mother and father (Christina & Josie), her grandparents and some good friends who had predeceased her. On behalf of the Harkin family, I’d like to extend a warm go raibh míle maith agaibh to everyone for their kind help and support, we cannot thank you all enough – Maith sibh.