Foyle Hospice founder kindled a bright light of hope Fr. Eamon Graham tells mourners, ‘Oíche mhaith, Dr. Tom McGinley. A thousand thanks’

Fr. Graham said Dr. McGinley, who passed away last Thursday after a short illness, had left an incredible legacy to the people of the north west.

“I first came to Derry as a deacon and then a priest forty years ago in 1981 and Derry then was a very troubled, dark and indeed a hopeless place. The hunger strike was on, death and destruction were common place.

“The sanctity and value of every human life seemed to have moved out of our consciousness. In those darkest of times it was very easy to give up hope but in my opinion a bright light was kindled when the work of the hospice began in the early 1980s, first as home care and later as the inpatient and day care centres that today we know and love. The lighting of that light was the vision of one man - Dr. Tom McGinley.”

Addressing his children Ciarán, Aisling, Ronán and Sinéad, and his grandchildren Kevin, Christina, Ciara, Conor, Cormac, Tom and Molly, Fr. Graham said Dr. McGinley had been a devoted family man who never got over the death of his late wife Deirdre 18 years ago.

Dr. Tom McGinley 1934-2021: An extraordinary human being, a great humanitarian who leaves an exemplary legacy of medicine and care without borders or exclusions

Fr. Graham acknowledged that the support his family had provided Dr. McGinley had been integral to the hospice’s success.

“Your sacrifice and your work and whatever sacrifice you made, you made it, and your mum made it, to make the lives of so many people much, much better,” he said.

Fr. Graham said he believed the Foyle Hospice was an inspirational example that shone far beyond Derry.

“In my opinion the Foyle Hospice became the antidote to the Troubles and the community tensions.

“I remember people saying that if we could walk every single person in Northern Ireland through the hospice the Troubles would end the next day. I think there is an awful lot of truth in that because in some way things in the hospice were as they should be everywhere else. There was no Catholic and Protestant. There was no British or Irish. There was no believer or unbeliever. There was no border. Just valued human beings.

“The hospice taught us how life should be and particularly how the end of life should be and to me that has permeated into every other medical aspect of life. I’ve no doubt that the ethos built by the hospice was carried out into the community and it helped build the peace we enjoy today.”

Fr. Graham fondly recalled Dr. McGinley’s final words to him.

“Last week I had the great privilege of praying with Tom over the phone obviously...and I’ll always treasure his final words to me - Oíche mhaith. (Good night). So I think we say together, Oíche mhaith Dr. Tom McGinley. Go raibh míle maith agat. A thousand thanks. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.”