William McDermott (22), from Raheny, was a caring and witty gentleman known for his radiant smile, sense of humour and love of music. He cherished time with his family and friends, especially at Croke Park to see his beloved Dubs play.
Introduction
We are a family of ten, 8 siblings and our Mam and Dad. We lived in Edenmore Crescent in Raheny, and absolutely loved living there. Even though our ages ranged from 12 to 24 we were very close, and the older siblings always looked out for the younger ones.
Willie was our brother, and he was only 22 years of age when he died. He was a tall strong lad and our mother's first boy born. He was the big brother who protected us all.
Background
He was very witty, funny, caring and kind, but also a gentle giant. He had the most beautiful smile with the perfect white teeth, it was no wonder all the girls were always chasing him.
I remember myself and my sister Selina gathered up the Valentine’s cards that were delivered to our house, and most of them were for Willie. Sadly, he would never get to see them or know how much he was admired.
He had a job he loved at Fitzgerald’s truck company in Raheny. He was learning to drive at the time and sadly he never got to see that he passed his test, his licence arrived a few days after his death.
He was the first to drive in our family and our late uncle Liam used to take him out to give him lessons in his van. There were very close and it broke Liam’s heart when Willie died that night. Liam was actually the one to identify Willie.
Willie was witty and very funny; he had a great sense of humour and had a witty answer for everything.
He had a love of music, he was forever buying LPs, which thankfully we still have today. From E.L.O., T Rex and of course the Dubliners.
The weekend couldn’t come quick enough for Willie. He loved meeting up with his friends, going for a game of pool and a few beers, but he also loved spending time with his sisters Bred, June and of course his brother Jim, again Croke Park was always their destination.
God, he loved blaring his music in the parlour before heading out to hill 16 in Croke Park, only the Hill would do for our Willie, to see his beloved Dubs.
After the Dubs won it was to Maher’s pub and then to the Green Dolphin out in Raheny and then to top it off to the Asgard in Howth. A good ballad session would always be going.
He was a soft voiced man and the only time I ever heard him raise his voice would be when he was arguing with his brother George about Leeds and Tottenham Hotspur. These arguments never lasted long because they soon realised that neither were any good.
In the 70’s times were hard, and money was tight, and like most of the older ones he would have his hiding place. He would hide his wage packet in a vent in the boxroom. He would
tell our mam to take what she needed, but make sure to take it out before Tuesday, because it would be gone by then. He would hate to see our mother struggle.
Not long before Willie died, I remember being upset and crying because other children were picking on me because of my red hair and freckles, he picked me up and said, "Louise don’t cry, you’re going to be just lovely when you grow up." I will never forget that day.
Stardust
Willie wasn’t going to the Stardust that night, he was out playing pool and having a few beers when he came home and told our Mam he was off to the Stardust. She was surprised because he never usually went there, but he said, "Ah sure look, it’s Valentine’s night, and sure everyone’s going, I might get lucky." That’s the last time our Mam seen Willie.
We know Willie got out that night, but he went back in because he knew George and Marcella were in there.
He was found early on and was taken to the Mater Hospital where he passed away from the fumes.
Since then
When we think as a family what Willie would be like today, we can only imagine the future he would have had. Would he be now going to Croke Park with his family, with his grandchildren, with his wife. We will always laugh and cry and talk about Willie because we will never know how things could have been. We will always keep his memory alive.
McDermott Family’s Impact Statement
This is an impact of the Stardust fire on our family.
The Stardust. God, how we hate that name. The 14th of February 1981 changed our lives as a family forever. Nothing could have prepared us for what was happening or what was about to happen. We went to bed as a family of eight siblings and woke up as five.
When they told our mother that they had found Willie, she knew that George and Marcella wouldn't be coming home either. She knew in her heart that they were all gone.
It wasn't until we went to the funeral home and saw the three coffins laid out that we understood what was really happening.
Our mother was banging on the coffins, "Let me see my children!". Which wasn't an option given to my mother, or father, or our family. In the church that day, we thought we had not only lost Willie, George and Marcella, but also our mother. She kept saying, "why did he take three?" From leaving that church, our mother doesn't even remember burying her children.
The eruption of chaos was in our home. It was like not knowing where to start. The crying, the wailing, the fighting, and the blaming. But most of all, it was the emptiness in the house.
The next five years went by in a total blur. Like all of us, our mother received very little help from anyone. No counselling was ever mentioned. In fact, our mother was sent to a day centre for people with mental health issues and disabilities. They put a white coat on her and told her to sew little square parts of material together.
But she kept on saying, as strong as she is, I'm not sick or mad, I’m just grieving for my children. And thank God. She never went back there.
Her life after the Stardust has been one of the most unimaginable grief. How do you wake up from a nightmare like this? Only it wasn't a nightmare. She would still leave a key in the door, in the front door, for years, hoping one of them would walk through at any minute.
Although there was still five of us left, our mother really struggled. There were occasions where we would find her in the alley o, with her packet of sleeping tablets, ready to end it all. But luckily, someone always found her. This was when we thought she had truly given up. After this, I went up to her room with a picture of the Sacred Heart and I asked my mother, because I knew she wanted to go,
"Did you love them more than us?"
But that's when something changed in my mother. She started to get her strength back. Our father was a fireman and was off duty that night. His watch was D watch, and they were called out to Stardust that night. He kept saying he could have saved them if he was there. But deep down he knew. He knew they were never coming home. He would often say, being a fireman, "I know the death they had".
And this haunted him for his short years he had left. He did go back to work at Tara Street and was put onto the phones, but he just couldn't do it. It was too much. They gave him early retirement. The Fire Brigade were very good to him and to our family and especially to my mother and we can't thank them enough.
But life was becoming quite difficult at times as we were all dealing with our own grief in our own way. Our mother, blaming him for not being there to save them. And my father blaming my mother for not knowing that Marcella wasn't babysitting. Eventually life was unbearable for the two of them and they separated.
June and Bred were still young and married and had children of their own. They lost their pals that night as they were closer in age and went out together. They also still had to look after us, myself and my sister Louise. And then to come to terms with their own grief. And then you have my brother Jim, who still to this day won't talk about it and can't talk about it.
From the 14th of February 1981, Willie, George, Marcella, being taken from us that night, tore our family apart. People used to say that life will go on, but what use would counselling have been without any closure about what happened that night. What has made closure impossible for the loss of Willie, George and Marcella is the fact that the Irish state has failed to apply law to any proper investigation into their deaths and that's why we're here today.
The power and the will of healing is what got our family through this and thank God we were strong enough. Willie, Marcella and George. You will always be with us. Always. We love you and we miss you.
And in my mother's words, which are very short, but it says it all -
Willie, George and Marcella were her children. They were hers and my father’s children. They went out that night and they never came home. She misses them, loves them, and God bless them.
