Omagh Bomb: Mother Says Nightmares Haunt Her Since Daughter’s Death in Omagh Blast

Brenda Logue was just seventeen. The bombing happened in 1998. She was a good Gaelic football player.

Her mom, Mary Logue, had cancer. She died on November tenth. This was said at the inquiry. She got sick eight months ago. Before she died, she told her sons something. She wanted them to say it at the inquiry because she couldn’t go in person.

Her oldest son, Cathal, read the statement with his brother, Carl, by his side. It was read on Wednesday. Mary Logue’s statement talked about August 15, 1998. It started like a normal Saturday for her and Brenda. They took her mother into town then.

Carl usually went, but he had a job. It was with the ice cream man, and it was his first day. He seemed very happy. Brenda cared. Brenda left the shop to see. Carl would have gone too, Mary said, and she feels she could have lost him as well.

The last thing she saw was Brenda’s hair. The bomb threw her back, she said, and people told her she lost consciousness. She woke up and knew Brenda was gone. She looked for her anyway. It was like a disaster movie, she said. The sounds haunt her.

The bomb went off on Saturday, and Brenda’s body came home five days later. Her funeral was on Friday. Mary’s statement also showed love. She felt “blessed” with Brenda as her daughter because they had a strong bond.

The family had a hard time after the divorce. They relied on hand-me-downs, and money was not always there. Brenda wore her cousin’s dress for her First Holy Communion. She looked beautiful in it. Mary described it as seeming like a wedding dress.

The family settled in Loughmacrory. Brenda made friends there who still talk to the family now. People remember Brenda as sweet and in charge, not one to follow others, but always a leader.

She liked having fun with people. She led the local youth club and impacted young children, something people remembered. The inquiry also learned something: girls could now wear trousers at school because of her arguing that skirts were cold, a matter of fairness.

Brenda loved football a lot, influenced by her brothers, as the inquiry heard. Her height and strength helped her. She was a “natural goalkeeper”, and this courage benefitted her greatly. She played for her club at all ages.

She joined Tyrone’s minor and senior teams and was showing promise. People said she had great potential. Mary wondered how far she’d go. This was a dream in her mind. Tyrone won the All-Ireland in 2018, but lost the year before. Would Brenda have been on that team, though?

Tyrone named a cup after Brenda. Her family presents the Junior Championship Cup and has done so since. Loughmacrory Ladies won that cup the year after Brenda died, making it a bittersweet moment to present it.

Brenda’s niece shares the same name. Brenda Marie Logue won a tournament, honoring her memory at Loughmacrory GAA. Mary was too sick to go because her chemo kept her away. The team took the cup to Brenda’s grave.

Cathal also read his mom’s words. He said Brenda had been “robbed”. She couldn’t see her daughter grow up. He missed many things, seeing her fall in love for instance. He missed her wedding and children and her being a grandma.

Her sons struggle with her sister’s murder. They saw their mother’s grief too, which caused them emotional damage, he said. Mary Logue said Brenda would know what to do. She would know how to comfort the boys, she would mother them.

Brenda’s mom wondered about her health. Would the cancer have come? Would she still have been healthier? Stress feeds cancer, she said. Was it from burying her child? Was it from something out of her control?

She had nightmares for years, and panic attacks crippled her. She took sleeping pills, but they didn’t stop them and she can’t go to Omagh town. They tried to cope with shock and grief, however, depression often struck, creating immense struggles.

It came in waves always. Some days were manageable, while other days they felt hopeless. It was a constant process. The boys struggled in different ways and she was falling apart herself, so she couldn’t help them.

Her family’s “world fell apart” after the bombing. Losing a child is a parent’s worst fear. She lived it for twenty-six years.