UlsterNet.co.uk

Strabane school pays its tribute to tragic Charlene

Thursday, 19 January 2012

A MUCH LOVED and well-known 27-year-old GAA player - who was a well-known teacher in Strabane - was laid to rest yesterday (Tuesday). Sadly she passed away at the weekend after having bravely fought an illness.
Gaelscoil Uí Dhochartaigh remained closed yesterday as around 60 pupils and teachers travelled to Derry for the funeral Mass in St Brigid's Church. Pupils formed part of a guard-of-honour outside the church.
Charlene Griffiths, who worked in the Ballycolman school for more than a year, was a popular figure among Strabane's Irish language and sporting circles.
On Monday, Brian McMahon, Strabane District Council's chairman who worked alongside the young woman in his role as a classroom assistant, said that the people of Strabane took to the young Gael just as "she took to them".
Ms Griffiths' sporting and teaching career came to an abrupt end nine months ago, when she fell ill. She died at the weekend, following a battle with cancer.
She had been due to marry a local sports journalist. Addressing a huge crowd in St Brigid's Church, parish priest Rev Chris Ferguson said the couple became betrothed two years ago at Niagara Falls on a trip around North America.
“If ever there was a person who was fully alive, who could claim to have lived to the full, then it was Charlene," Fr Ferguson told the congregation.
“She has given too much, and shared so much of her time, talents and abilities not to remain a light in our lives."
Similar tributes flooded on to social networking sites at the weekend.
‘Effervescent'
Figures from Steelstown Brian Og's GAC, of which Charlene was a lifelong member, described her as an "effervescent" woman, who was an inspiration on and off the pitch.
It was at the club that she earned the nickname 'Mother Steelstown', taking time to look after the young players and new recruits.
Working as a club coach and a cultural officer, she more recently captained the senior ladies team, playing in recent matches against local side, Sigersons.
The University of Ulster who trained in St Mary's College, Belfast, was also heavily involved in Gaelscoil Uí Dhochartaigh's recent pantomime - creating dance routines for the popular production, which showed at the Alley Theatre last year.
Mr McMahon said she "put her heart and soul" into the role, putting pupils through their paces during their lunch breaks and deliberately making them fun for them.
“She was one of those people who you met once in your life and they make a mark on you," Mr McMahon added on Monday.
“She had a real presence. She was very bubbly. She was always smiling, nothing ever seemed to bother her. She will be sorely missed by the staff and children at the school."
Maire Ni Dhochartaigh, principal of Gaelscoil Uí Dhochartaigh, said she was a born teacher who always asked about pupils and former colleagues in the months prior to her death.
Shortly before Christmas Charlene attended a carol service performed by Gaelscoil pupils in Derry's Foyleside shopping centre. The school also raised more than £2,000 for Charlene and her family when they climbed Mount Errigal on a stormy June day.
“When I presented the cheque to her father, I said the winds of Errigal were quieter than Charlene. She was like a whirlwind, she was always on the go," Ms Ni Dhochartaigh said with a laugh.
“She always took the time out to ask about other people and she was always helping people. And she always talked about her family and her fiancé."
She added: "She was a great girl; just her bubbliness and her character."

Subscribe to read full newspaper »

Send this page to a friend »