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Earth moves for Irish couple hit by Italy wedding quake

Shaken but not stirred - couple go on to exchange vows

By
KELLY FINCHAM,
IrishCentral.Com Editor

Published Tuesday, September 1, 2009, 9:29 AM
Updated Tuesday, September 1, 2009, 10:09 AM

 

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Before the quake: Monica and Ian Devine prepare to say 'I Do'
Before the quake: Monica and Ian Devine prepare to say 'I Do'

An Irish couple have become a surprise YouTube hit after their wedding was hit by an earthquake in Italy.

Ian and Monica Devine were holding their faiytale wedding in Monica's home town of Athina when the church was rocked by an earthquake measuring 3.9 on the Richter scale.

The 20-second video shows the church starting to shake and panicked friends and family running out of the church.

The quake hit just as Ian, from Drogheda in County Louth, was about to say "I do."

Ian's father, Roy, said the whole experience was terrifying.

Speaking to his hometown newspaper in Drogheda, Roy Devin said: "The Italians all ran out of the church because they knew straight away what it was but the Irish crowd didn't know what was going on. We didn't know whether to stay or leave but the priest told us we were better off staying in the church so that's what we did."

"The ceiling and the pillars in the church were all moving," he told the Drogheda Independent. "It was terrifying," said Roy.

The happy couple had deliberately chosen the church because Monica's parents had exchanged their vows there in 1959.

 

Ironically, the church had been closed for 10 years after a 1986 earthquake which destroyed the church and Monica's family home.

Once the shaking had subsided, the couple finished the ceremony inside.

"The Italians wouldn't come back in, they were terrified and most of the Irish people were very nervous as well but the priest agreed to finish the ceremony because it was quite close to the end and he gave them the option of doing it in the church or outside," Roy said.

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