The late Bishop Edward Daly kept his iconic Bloody Sunday handkerchief for years, according to a close friend.
Bishop Daly, who was 82 when he died on Monday from cancer following a short illness, was famously photographed holding the bloodstained tissue as he tended to a man who had been shot.
His friend, Fr George McLaughlin (84), said from his Greencastle home: “Everyone knew him because of that famous Bloody Sunday photo with the handkerchief, but he wasn’t very keen to discuss those events, especially not in latter years.
“What he did at the time was a sign of the man’s bravery and courage.
“He went to the aid of Jackie Duddy, who had been shot and died, and I believe that Bishop Daly later gave the handkerchief to the Duddy family.
“He kept it, just as it was, for a long time. It wasn’t washed. I wouldn’t be certain if it was washed in later times.
“The handkerchief was the only thing he had at the time to raise attention that a man had been shot.”
The bloodstained tissue was donated to the Museum of Free Derry in 2009.
Bishop Daly and Fr McLaughlin were ordained only a year apart, first Fr George in 1956, and Fr Daly in 1957, and were then posted together as curates in Derry.
Bishop Daly made his last public appearance and speech on June 17 past when he attended Fr McLaughlin’s Diamond Jubilee Mass at St Pius X Church in Moville as he celebrated 60 years in the priesthood.
Bishop Daly will be buried tomorrow following his funeral Mass in St Eugene’s Cathedral, Derry, at 3.30pm.
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