The Catholic Church has expressed regret that a priest asked for a Tricolour to be removed from the coffin of a Defence Forces veteran at a funeral in Kilkenny last week.
The Catholic bishops permit coffins of deceased members of the Defence Forces, the Reserve Defence Forces and gardaí to be covered by the Irish flag at funerals.
However, on April 3rd, when the remains of Defence Forces’ veteran John Phelan arrived at St Canice’s Church in Kilkenny city, former Army colleagues accompanying his remains were asked to remove the flag from his coffin.
The request caused considerable distress to Mr Phelan’s family and Defence Forces colleagues.
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Mr Phelan, a corporal with the Defence Forces, served for 28 years and was a retired member of the 30th Battalion James Stephens Barracks in Kilkenny.
He died on March 31st at St Luke’s Hospital Kilkenny, surrounded by his family. Following the Mass at St Canice’s Church, he was buried in St Kieran’s cemetery.
Cormac Kirwan of Óglaigh Náisiúnta na hÉireann (Organisation of National Ex-Service Personnel) said the incident was “regrettable”, not least because, since 2010, he believed the Catholic bishops allowed the coffins of veterans be draped in the Tricolour at funerals. This ruling was reaffirmed by the bishops in 2016 and 2022 and again in 2023.
He was aware of some other incidents where Tricolours were removed at veterans’ funerals and believed this was in contravention of what the bishops had repeatedly made clear to Defence Forces’ chaplains “as recently as October 2023″.
George Kerton of the Irish UN Veterans Association said he had heard “of about three such cases in recent years, but they tended to be the exception”.
It was “very much down to individual clergy”, he said.
Defence Forces veteran Noel O’Callaghan, who served for 43 years, felt what the Phelan family experienced in Kilkenny last week was “wrong on so many levels”.
It was “so insensitive to the unique role of the Defence Forces and the ceremonial around funerals” and “made the funeral of our comrade all the more sad for his family, friends and comrades”.
Spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Martin Long said the priest concerned at St Canice’s “was only informed at the door of the church, as the funeral arrived, that there was a desire to drape the coffin with the national flag”.
The priest “was taken aback by not knowing and asked for it to be removed citing, in good faith, what he presumed to be protocol”, said Mr Long.
“The diocese of Ossory greatly regrets any offence caused and certainly does support the agreed permissions of 2022,” he said.
“The priest who celebrated this funeral Mass is a deeply pastoral man, intended no hurt and has since met with some members of the family and local Defence Forces to explain how this transpired.”
In a similar incident in Monaghan town two years ago, Fr Leo Creelman also refused permission for a flag to be draped across a coffin during a funeral. The priest told funeral organisers that if he allowed the flag for the funerals of Defence Forces veterans, he would have to allow it for non-military funerals, including the funerals of paramilitaries.
