'Never in your worst nightmare could you imagine what I saw': Tipperary remembers 9/11

September 11, 2001, will forever be remembered as a defining day in modern world history.

The events that unfolded at the World Trade Centre in New York gave a generation their ‘where were you’ moment, as both the north and south towers were struck by two passenger airlines, leaving thousands dead and many more wounded.

No matter where you go in the world, you will find a connection to the harrowing attack on the Twin Towers.

Tipperary is one such place, with several people from the county caught up in the event.

Most infamously, perhaps, is the case of Cappawhite’s Martin John Coughlan, a carpenter, who was working on the 96th floor of one of the towers on the morning the incident occurred.

Martin moved to America 14 years prior with his family, and had been living in New York.

His wife Catherine recounted to The Nationalist that he had made his way down from the 96th floor to the 84th to call her and say that: “something terrible has happened.”

The phone call would be the last contact that Martin would have with his family.

After an agonising period of waiting, the family eventually got a phone call to alert them that Martin had died during the incident and his remains had been found.

Hundreds of people in Cappawhite came to sign books of condolence for Martin, while his brother Paddy Joe called for no more innocent lives to be lost.

Also present at the scene of the incident was then-23 year-old Kieran Quinn, also from Cappawhite, who was living in America, having won a basketball scholarship.

Kieran had arrived for work in the World Financial Centre in the Lehman Brothers office on the 29th floor.

Kieran witnessed the incident first-hand, and said of it: “Never in your worst nightmare could you imagine what I saw.

“It was a beautiful day in New York. I was on the phone looking out the window.I heard a noise and the next thing I saw a plane coming straight for the building. I thought it was coming for us.I dropped the phone, then the plane took a sudden change of direction and crashed into the north tower. It was a massive noise. I just ran down the stairs. I was shaking all the time. I got out of the building. I thought it was an accident. People were in a panic all around me. I saw people jumping from the tower. There was debris and bodies falling and a huge amount of paper. It was like a paper shower.”

One Tipperary woman was fortunate on the day of the attack, as she was absent from work, owing to maternity leave.

Geraldine Conway, from the Glen of Aherlow, had taken maternity leave from the Saturday before the attack, which was known to both of her parents.

In the aftermath of the attack, Thurles’ Fr Tommy Flynn attended the site to offer assistance, and was a central figure in helping Irish families get information regarding their loved ones that were caught up in the events,

“Really what we are trying to do is to identify the Irish people who are still missing and to try and respond as best we can to the situation and to whatever needs there may be,” Fr Flynn said, speaking with the Tipperary Star’s September 29, 2001 edition.

Fr Flynn was on loan from the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, and was living 20 minutes from the World Trade Centre at the time of the attack.

He was informed of the situation upon returning to his quarters.

“I turned on the television and I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was unreal. It was like watching a movie and it certainly didn’t register at first. It took some time for it to register that it happened just down town,” he said.

“I would say that from a personal perspective, this has been my most difficult and hardest time since being ordained. You want to reach out and do your best for people who are grieving and who have lost loved ones. It’s so difficult though and I can tell you that to be down there at the scene and take it all in is very traumatic.

“And yet, in the midst of all the gruesome sights and the sheer evil, it is an absolute privilege to be part of the overwhelming goodness on the part of the people of New York. It is spontaneous goodness and it has come from people who have just come down and offered their help,” he said.