Aug. 10, 1976 was a warm day in Belfast. That afternoon Anne Maguire, a 31-year-old mechanic's wife, was crushed against a school railing with her four children by a swerving getaway car used by terrorists of the Provisional I.R.A. The car's driver had been shot dead by pursuing British soldiers. Mrs. Maguire was hospitalized in a semiconscious state; it was several weeks before she fully comprehended that three of her children had been killed.
In one sense, Anne Maguire's tragedy was not in vain. Betty Williams, who had witnessed the accident, and Anne's sister, Mairead Corrigan, began a door-to-door campaign, seeking signatures for a petition condemning the continued violence between Ulster's Roman Catholics and Protestants. The movement, known as the Peace People, won the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize for rallying public outrage against the senseless sectarian killings.
But for Mrs Maguire herself there was no consolation. She emigrated to New Zealand with her husband Jack in 1977 and there gave birth to a second daughter. She suffered a nervous breakdown, and the homesick family returned to Belfast in less than a year. Perpetual grief led to even more breakdowns-ever deeper mental depression. Last week Anne Maguire finally gave up. She took her own life, slashing her wrists and throat with an electric carving knife.
The funeral took place in a church only 100 yards from the site of the accident and was attended by 1,500 mourners, including both Catholics and Protestants. The majority of them were women. In his homily at the Requiem Mass, Father James Kelly told the congregation: "A broken heart was the cause of Anne's death. In truth she died four years ago." An even more tragic truth is that Mrs. Maguire's suffering was not at all exceptional. "There are hundreds of Mrs. Maguires in Northern Ireland whom you never hear about," said one mourner. "They are all widows and mothers."