On the morning of September 11, 2001, (25 years ago today), two hijacked passenger planes struck the Twin Towers of New York’s World Trade Center. Both towers collapsed.
Together with the attacks at the Pentagon and the crash of another hijacked aircraft in Pennsylvania, that day claimed nearly 3,000 lives, leaving families and communities grieving across the world.
For Cappawhite, County Tipperary, that loss had a familiar name: Mr Martin Coughlan.
Mr Coughlan was 53 years old, a carpenter working in the South Tower. He had made his home in Queens with his wife, Catherine, and their four daughters. During the unfolding tragedy, he called his wife, Catherine to tell her that something terrible was happening and that he was trying to get out. He never came home.
Those who knew Mr Coughlan remembered his pride in his craft and the long hours he worked to support his family. He had spoken of perhaps returning to Ireland.
In Cappawhite, Co. Tipperary, more than 1,000 people attended a memorial Mass in his memory; a community gathering to mourn one of its own.
Talented Kilkenny singer and guitarist Ms Nora Fogarty, in the video hereunder, remembers the USA Terrorist Attack On 11th September 2001.
“Shattered Dreams”
(Lyrics written by Co. Kilkenny poet Kathleen Blanchfield).
As we remember that terrible day, let us hold Mr Coughlan’s family in our thoughts, alongside all those whose loved ones were lost.
Behind every name is a life full of relationships, ordinary joys and plans left unfinished. Remembering Mr Coughlan means making room for that life, as well as mourning its ending.
May Mr Coughlan’s memory be held with love in Cappawhite, in New York, and wherever your story is told.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.
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