Jack de Bromhead anniversary tributes – ‘As we recall his passing, please comfort his beloved family’

The late summer scene made for a quiet and subdued setting as members of the public and Jack’s extended horse-and-pony racing family placed tokens of remembrance and said prayers.

The focal point for their grief was a beach flagpole where an amalgamation of different shaped stones conveyed the messages of sorrow and loss.

Accompanying the many stones with ‘RIP Jack’ painted on them were personalised messages communicating Jack’s love of horseracing: ‘Jack, you were an amazing jockey’. On another stone was written: ‘Jack, you were the nicest person ever and the friendliest person ever.’

Most poignant was the tiny red horseshoe with two blue butterflies placed beside a rabbit teddy bear, both items reflecting the traumatic loss of a child.

Short notes were sealed in plastic to protect their emotional and heartfelt messages from the weather. A note stated: ‘Jack, we will all miss you.’

Inserted between two stones to prevent the sea breeze from carrying it was a note saying: ‘Fly high with the angels young Jack. There is horseracing in heaven.’

At St James’ Church on Sunday morning the people gathered for 11:30 Mass, feeling sad for the tragic events of a year ago. The de Bromhead family’s wish was for Parish Priest Fr Kieran O’Sullivan to remember Jack in his sermon, which he did with kindness and sensitivity.

“It was a dramatic and very difficult time for everybody, most especially for his beloved family, friends, neighbours, and all in the horseracing fraternity,” Fr O’Sullivan said.

“It was a hard time for all the parishioners, too, to see that such a young life was lost here at the races at Glenbeigh. The memory of that has stuck with us all throughout the year and it’s hard to believe that we have come now to remember him on his first anniversary,” he added.

Fr O’Sullivan then recited a special prayer for Jack de Bromhead and his family: ‘Lord God, from whom human sadness is never hidden, you know the burden of grief at the loss of Jack on this his first anniversary,” he said.

“As we recall his passing from this life, comfort his beloved parents, Henry and Heather, his sisters, Mia and Georgia, his grandparents, aunts and uncles, relatives and friends. And all who are remembering him in prayer today with the knowledge that Jack now lives in your loving embrace. This we ask through Christ our Lord.”