A yellow fireman's helmet was placed on the coffin of Mark O'Shaughnessy when the young fireman was taken to the Church of Our Lady, Queen of Peace for his removal on Saturday evening.
The seaside town of Bray, Co Wicklow came to a standstill for the removal of the 25-year-old who died with his colleague Brian Murray when a roof fell in on them as they fought a fire in a disused factory in the town on Wednesday.
Shops and businesses closed as the cortege moved through Bray and crowds applauded as the hearse passed them. The cortege passed his home at Sidmonton Road before arriving at the church where fire officers and Civil Defence members formed a guard of honour. Mark O'Shaughnessy worked with the Civil Defence for several years before joining the Fire Service about two years ago.
A fire engine stood at the entrance to the packed church as lone piper, fireman Barney Mulhall, played a lament. The mourners were led by Mr O'Shaughnessy's mother Marie, brother Eamonn, sister Niamh, and girlfriend Hazel O'Brien.
Parish priest Father Larry White welcomed Mr O'Shaughnessy's relatives from Dublin, England and Australia and said his death was a "terrible tragedy".
"We gather with a sense of loss and a sense of sadness," he said. "There's not much we can say that can make sense. There's just an overwhelming sense of grief and loss and powerlessness." Fr White said he had often told mourners that words were inadequate at such times "but I never felt it more true than at this moment".
He said the pain of grief was the price of loving someone and Mark O'Shaughnessy was loved by many people. "There's a family who loved Mark, who was in the prime of his life, who had all his future ahead of him, himself and Hazel, heading together."
Praising the work of fire fighters and Civil Defence members and the sense of camaraderie they displayed, he said Mark was "very much part of the ideal of what a community should be, where we care for one another".
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was represented at the removal by aide-de-camp Capt Michael Treacy. The removal was also attended by the Minister for the Environment, John Gormley and by local politicians such as Minister of State for Europe, Dick Roche, deputy Labour leader, Liz McManus and Green Party senator, Deirdre de Burca.
Hundreds of firefighters attended the removal, including Peter Savarese and Greg Ruggiero from New York. They will be joined by more colleagues today for the burial of Mr O'Shaughnessy and the removal of Mr Murray.
Brian Murray met the New York firefighters when he volunteered in the wake of the September 11th attacks.
The removal was also attended by members of the emergency services from all over the State, including firefighters from counties such as Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny and Tipperary. Wicklow's chief fire officer James Dunphy and Kildare's chief fire officer Michael Fitzsimons were in attendance, as was Bill Downes, Wicklow's chief Civil Defence officer.
Mark O'Shaughnessy's funeral will be held today after 10am Requiem Mass at the Church of Our Lady, Queen of Peace, with the burial at Springfield Cemetery in Bray.
Brian Murray's removal will be held at 6pm this evening, to the Church of the Holy Redeemer in Bray with his burial after 11am Requiem Mass tomorrow.
