Charles Visit Is 'New High' In Peacemaking

It is aptly named Mullaghmore. The Irish version - An Mullach Mór - means "the great summit".

Prince Charles' visit to the scene of his great-uncle's murder scaled new heights in terms of peacemaking.

Local residents, waiting quietly in the sunshine, could not quite believe the words they were hearing.

His Royal Highness' speech in nearby Sligo was paving the way to his family's poignant return.

"It was a day just like this," is a phrase you hear often in this coastal village on Ireland's west coast. This place and its people were changed forever by the events of an August bank holiday in 1979.

The Queen's cousin had just set sail when the IRA remotely detonated a bomb on his fishing boat.

It brought shame on Mullaghmore, where Lord Mountbatten spent every summer living quietly.

"We have missed the Royal Family here," said Sister Kathleen Rooney, "and I'm glad they're back."

Their Royal Highnesses paused for a moment in the garden of peace alongside the old convent. They smiled and chatted with old neighbours of Lord Mountbatten and others too young to remember.

But these people have lived under a shadow, in a community haunted by what happened here.

With fishing boats resting in the harbour, the Prince glanced over a serenely calm Donegal Bay. It was there that the old man he described as "the grandfather I never had" took his final breath.

Not since the bombing itself had the world's media descended in such number on this quiet street.

Cameras were not permitted when the Prince met those who had been involved in rescue attempts.

Dr Tony Heenan was the consultant surgeon on duty at Sligo General that fateful day. The Mountbattens were so grateful for his efforts, they later invited him to family weddings.

He was clearly moved by the fact that the Prince of Wales had made the journey here.

"This was about healing," he said, "not about closure - you only close doors and coffins."

Lord Mountbatten was captivated by the ocean views and monolithic landscape around his castle.

Thirty-five years after his death, the cloud has lifted on the scenic beauty of Ben Bulbin mountain.