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My earliest memory of Jim was of him building his house near us in Salthill. He had a small corrugated iron shed he lived in while working there. We local working men, all of us about six or seven years old, decided he needed a hand, so we went to “help” him, moving sand and mixing cement, etc. We were obviously a complete distraction and a nuisance but he was a gentle man. He would sit us down beside his shed, give us a slice of bread and jam, and then frighten the life out of us telling us ghost stories. A very nice way of getting rid of us at the same time as vastly improving the efficiency level of the amount of work being done on site.

At about 3pm on the afternoon of Saturday, November 20, 1920, William Duffy of Cloghscoilte near Barna was driving cattle locally when one of them got stuck in the mud. William noticed part of a coat sticking out of the gap, so he went for his neighbours Patrick and Thomas Lydon, and later Patrick Cloherty and Patrick Concannon from Truskey joined them at what turned out to be a grave. They uncovered part of the body and realised that it was that of Fr Griffin. They decided to wait until it was dark so they covered up the body again, afraid that the Tans might return to remove it. William Duffy rode on horseback into Fr O’Meehan in Montpellier Terrace to inform him of the tragedy. Fr O’Meehan, Fr Sexton, and Canon Considine then hired Patsy Flaherty’s side car and went out to Clochscoilte.

A former barrister will be ordained to the priesthood in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Oranmore on Sunday at 3pm.