Co Clare woman, Vanessa Whyte loved her two children, James and Sara “fiercely” and “carried burdens we will never, ever fully understand”.
That is according to parish priest, Fr Tom Fitzpatrick for Ms Whyte’s home parish of Doora Barefield outside Ennis in Co Clare.
Addressing a packed Church of the Immaculate Conception in Barefield on Sunday evening, Fr Fitzpatrick said that the community “was gathered in the shadow of a tragedy that is beyond words”.
A 45 year vet, Ms Whyte, along with her 14-year-old son James and 13-year-old daughter Sara, were murdered in a shooting incident at their home on Wednesday morning on the outskirts of Maguiresbridge, Co Fermanagh.
Fr Fitzpatrick told the congregation gathered for the prayer service: “Vanessa was a mother, daughter, sister, aunty and a great friend to so many people.”
He said: “She was a woman who loved her children fiercely. She wanted the best for them. She worked hard and she laughed a lot – she carried burdens we will never ever fully understand. Her life was so incredibly precious.”
Fr Fitzpatrick went on: “James and Sara – their young lives just beginning – so full of promise, so loved, so full of light, they have been taken away from us all too soon in a violent way.”
He said: “We find it impossible to make sense of any of it, we cannot rationalise what should never have taken place.”
“What we can do is remember is the pain we feel now and remember that it is borne out of love.”
Fr Fitzpatrick said that the community are there to support Vanessa’s mother, Mary and her siblings, Stephen, Ivor, Geraldine, Anita and Regina.
Fr Fitzpatrick told the congregation that Vanessa’s mother, Mary and Vanessa’s siblings “are at home tonight – they decided not to come here as it might be easier for themselves”.
He said that they were looking in online on the prayer service, which included hymns from a local choir and long moments of silence, and which lasted for over one hour.
Fr Fitzpatrick said that “Vanessa’s beloved mother, Mary, your grief is a very deep ocean – no mother should ever have to endure this”.
Fr Fitzpatrick said that he had a sense of how heartbroken the Whyte family is having spent time with them over the past number of days.
Fr Fitzpatrick said: “We are here not because any of us have answers, we don’t – but need a place to bring our sorrow, to bring our anger, to bring our questions and bring our prayers in silence.”
He said: “We come not to try to explain the awfulness of what has taken place but to lament it and hold one another and try to seize whatever tiny morsel of hope there is and it is not an easy thing to do.”
Addressing members of the Whyte family looking in online, Fr Fitzpatrick said: “We say to you at home tonight, you are not alone and we are thinking of you.”
A murder investigation has been launched into Vanessa, James and Sara’s deaths, while a man – who police said was a member of the same household – remains in a serious condition in hospital
On Saturday, the PSNI appealed for information involving the movements of a vehicle.
Detective Chief Inspector Neil McGuinness said: “Our investigation is ongoing and we are working tirelessly to determine the exact circumstances of this tragedy.”
