The mother of murdered Rachel O'Reilly has spoken of the capacity of
her faith to help her cope with the tragic death of her two daughters.
Speaking on the RTÉ programme, Spirit Levels, Rose Callaly explained
how she dealt with the loss of her daughter Ann to cancer, just six
years after her other daughter Rachel was murdered by her husband Joe
O'Reilly.
''For months and months when I realised how serious it was, I prayed
non-stop and fervently. I prayed night and day for Ann to be saved. I
would have given my life for her and I promised everything that God
would ask of me if he would just save Anne but it wasn't to be.''
''In the beginning I was very angry and I kept saying to God if you
had to take Ann, why did she have to suffer so much? I found that hard
but with the grace of God I never blamed him.''
Ms Callaly, who admitted that her ability to forgive was still ''a
work in progress'', added her belief that Ann and Rachel were now
together gives her ''great consolation''.
''I've always felt there has to be a bigger picture; since Rachel
died I felt there has to be a reason. I think if I didn't feel like that
I wouldn't have got through and that all comes back to having faith and
trust in God.''
SIC: IC/IE