Sorry for not answering ye but this site did not tell me there were replies, anyhow here we go.
Hearne, the only John Hearne I have in the databases are;
HEARNE, JOHN. Rank: Private. Regiment or Service: Royal Irish Regiment.
Unit; 2nd Battalion. Date of Death: 28-June-1916. Service No: 7549.
Born in St. John’s, Waterford. Enlisted in Waterford. Died. He is buried beside Tipperaryman Lance Corporal Denis Jordan who was killed in action on the same day and in the same Battalion. Grave or Memorial Reference: II. B. 1. Cemetery: Citadel New Military Cemetery, Fricourt in France.
HEARNE, JOHN. Rank: Private. Regiment or Service: Royal Irish Regiment.
Unit; 1st Battalion. Date of Death: 25-April-1915. Service No: 6464. Born in Trinity Without, Waterford. Enlisted in Waterford. Died of Wounds.
Waterford News. May, 1915.
Death of a Waterford Soldier.
Pathetic Letter from a Belgian Priest.
Watou, near Poperinghe.
Belgium, 26th, April, 1915.
Dear Sir, Madam—No man had a sadder task than I have, and that to write to the mother and father to say that their beloved son had given his life for his country.
I desire you to accept my deepest sympathy in the great bereavement caused by the death of your beloved son; 6464 Hearne, Royal Irish Regiment.
I know it will give you great consolation to hear that your loving son died in the “Grace of the Lord” and received the last Sacraments before leaving this world of sorrows.
On Sunday afternoon, 25th April, at 3 o’clock, I found your dead son wounded at the chest in the Field Ambulance of Poperinghe. He was quite conscious and asked me to make his Confession, which he was able to do. He received also the Holy Sacrament of Extreme Unction. Then he asked me to write to his dear mother and father, what I promised him to do. I left the room for paying a visit to the next one. At a sudden, your dear son was dying. The orderly called me in. I just came in time to receive his last words; God, Ireland, Father Mother…. ”He died in my hands, and in your name I closed the eyes of your dear son. It was 3. 45 P. M.
Your beloved son had a happy death, dying with the grace of the Lord in his soul, and doing his duty in the service of his country; and though your grief in you bereavement is great, what a consolation to feel your beloved son is now in Heaven
On Monday afternoon, 2 o’clock, his body was carried to the cemetery of Poperinghe. I myself blessed the place where he was buried and afterwards I buried him with all the ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church.
The ambulance authorities, after they had been of an utmost kindness to you dear son, erected a cross on his grave, with his name, rank, and description.
I would repeat for you consolation the words of Cardinal Mercier, Belgian Bishop, in his last pastoral letter; “If I am asked what I think of the eternal salvation of a brave man, who has consciously given his life in defence of his country and honour…. I shall not hesitate to reply that without any doubt whatever Christ crowns his military valour, and that death, accepted in this Christian spirit, assures the safety of that man’s soul. ””
I again tender you my sympathy in your bereavement, and will continue to pray for you and your dear son.
Jerome Brutsaert.
R. E. , Priest-Belian.
At home at Watou.
Grave or Memorial Reference: II. K. 25. Cemetery: Poperinghe Old Military Cemetery in Belgium.
I have no further information on McCarthy since the publication of the book, sorry. As he was buried in Ireland he could have died here. I have come across soldiers who died in English hospital also being returned home for burial (but only rarely).
