Rebecca Browne was a “people person” who “brought out what was good” in others, mourners at her funeral Mass have been told.
The 21-year-old, from the Galliagh area of Derry, died after she was hit by a Garda car in Co Donegal early on Sunday morning after she had gone to Buncrana with her cousin for a night out. Gardaí are investigating the incident, which has been referred to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.
Fr Michael McCaughey told the congregation at St Joseph’s Church in Galliagh on Friday morning that Ms Browne was “someone who really lived life and love in her own way”.
The priest spoke of the shock and sadness that had engulfed Rebecca’s family, friends, neighbours and work colleagues since her sudden death. Many of the mourners wore T-shirts bearing Ms Browne’s picture on the front and the words ‘Forever 21′ on the back.
Nil Yalter: Solo Exhibition – A fascinating glimpse of a historically influential artist
A Californian woman in Dublin: ‘Ireland’s not perfect, but I do think as a whole it is moving in the right direction’
Will Andy Farrell’s Lions sabbatical hurt Ireland’s Six Nations chances?
How does VAT in Ireland compare with countries across Europe? A guide to a contentious tax
‘All was to change’
The night of her death, Fr McCaughey said, she and her cousin Leah had been “out together, full of life, and indeed many memories of the past, and soon all was to change”.
Ms Browne was someone who “had a place in the lives and the plans and expectations of many people”.
She was, Fr McCaughey said, someone who “loved photographs, loved creating memories” and “enjoyed fun” and “the company of people”.
“Becca loved music – anything as long as it was loud music and full blast – and in that she found fun, sitting and learning various songs.”
Travelin’ Soldier, he said, “was the first song that she was to learn, and the last song that she was to sing, late on Saturday night”.
‘Great reputation’
He said her work was important to her, “the skill and the gift of hairdressing, and from an early age she made herself a great reputation.”
As a sister, Fr McCaughey added, she had taken great care of her brother Ethan “even at [the] times they fought over the remote control”. She had shown “simple kindness” to her beloved mother Lynn and to her father Jerry, even involving him in her TikTok posts at times.
Following the homily, the priest read a poem written by Ms Browne’s aunt, which paid tribute to her niece as “a beacon of light, the happiest and kindest soul, loved by everyone she met”.
“To sing and to laugh her only goal, and life and soul of a party, so happy every day, a smile forever on her face,” it read.
After the Mass, the cortege travelled past the hairdressers where Ms Browne worked on Spencer Road in Derry, and then to the City Cemetery for her burial.
