{"id":191734,"date":"2025-12-14T18:49:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T18:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/191734\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T18:49:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T18:49:07","slug":"death-of-edenderry-firebomb-victim-mary-holt-unfair-and-deeply-painful-funeral-hears-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/191734\/","title":{"rendered":"Death of Edenderry firebomb victim Mary Holt \u2018unfair and deeply painful\u2019, funeral hears \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The death of Mary Holt (60), who died following a firebomb attack on a house in Edenderry<\/a>, Co Offaly<\/a>, \u201ccame too soon, in a way that feels unfair and deeply painful,\u201d her funeral mass was told on Sunday. <\/p>\n

Parish priest Fr Gregory Corcoran, told mourners in St Mary\u2019s Church, Edenderry that Ms Holt, who worked in the local Ofalia House care home, was a woman of kindness and compassion. <\/p>\n

He said their grief \u201cmay feel mixed with shock, anger, confusion, and deep sadness\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat too is part of love. We grieve because Mary mattered.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201c[Her life] was quietly shaped by care. She started working in the old hospital at the tender age of 15 years. Never one for the spotlight, but at the bedside: helping, comforting, noticing the small things,\u201d he told mourners. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe remains of Mary Holt\u00a0(60) are taken from St. Mary’s Church, Edenderry for burial following requiem mass on Sunday. Photo: Bryan O\u2019Brien \/ The Irish Times <\/p>\n

\u201cThat kind of work tells us a lot about a person. You don\u2019t become a carer unless you have patience, compassion, and a generous heart. Day after day, year after year, Mary showed up for others when they were most in need. <\/p>\n

\u201cMary\u2019s death leaves an empty place: in her family, among her friends, in Ofalia House, and in the lives of those that she cared for.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ms Holt\u2019s niece Tiffany also paid tribute to her aunt\u2019s kindness and care for others. She said she loved her job as a carer and \u201cwas happy with the small things in life, a cup of tea and a chat\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"MaryMary Holt (60), who was killed in a house fire in Edenderry, Co Offaly. <\/p>\n

\u201cMary had a beautiful life on this earth surrounded by loved ones,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Tiffany also read a letter from the staff of Ofalia House which praised Ms Holt\u2019s \u201cgentle soul whose kindness and compassion touched every resident, every family and every member of staff for 45 years\u201d. <\/p>\n

Ms Holt\u2019s grandnephew, Tadhg Farrell (4), also died in the incident in Castleview Park on December 6th. His funeral mass took place in Edenderry<\/a> on Friday.<\/p>\n

\"FlowersFlowers and toys outside the Castleview Park house where Tadhg Farrell (4) and his grand aunt Mary Holt (60) died in a firebomb attack in Edenderry Co.Offaly. Photo: Bryan O\u2019Brien \/ The Irish Times <\/p>\n

The dead boy\u2019s grandmother, Pauline Holt, managed to escape the flames which occurred just before 8pm but was critically injured after sustaining burns.<\/p>\n

On Friday, garda\u00ed carried out searches of three properties in counties Offaly and Kildare, although no arrests have yet been made. Items were taken away for examination. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The death of Mary Holt (60), who died following a firebomb attack on a house in Edenderry, Co…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43,8286],"class_list":["post-191734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-offaly"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}