TRIBUTES WERE paid to one of two young men who died from a suspected drugs overdose in Co Cork at the weekend as he was laid to rest in Dungarvan.
Hundreds of mourners gathered at St Augustine’s Church in Abbeyside yesterday for the funeral Mass of 22-year-old Michael Coleman from Ballinclamper, just outside the town.
Leading mourners were his grieving parents Kevin and Ann, his younger brother Shane and his partner, Ciara Drummy, along with other relatives, including his three grandparents, Margaret and Decie Coleman and Francis Nolan.
Mourners heard Fr Timothy O’Riordan recall how talented Mr Coleman was and how he was a superb student, first at primary school in Maynooth, later at Abbeyside National School, then at St Augustine’s College in Dungarvan and later again at Cork Institute of Technology.
Mr Coleman’s uncle, Martin Nolan, paid a poignant tribute to his nephew who had just qualified with a degree in chemical engineering from Cork Institute of Technology and had started work at pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly at Dunderrow, Co Cork. “Michael – Mop – was a beautiful young man who achieved so much in his 22 years. He succeeded in all he set out to do. He did well in school, achieved a first-class honours degree in college and produced an award-winning research project,” said Mr Nolan.
“He was so much more – he was a son that anyone would be proud of.
“He was devoted to Ciara who loved him dearly. He teased and tormented and loved his brother, Shane, who in turn loved him and admired him so much. And he had so many, many good friends.
“He was very popular, he was clever, he was witty and he had his own sense of style. He was a son, a brother, a grandson and a partner but above all else he was our beloved Mop who loved Ciara, loved his family, loved his friends and he will always be in our hearts.”
Mr Coleman’s coffin was carried from the church by his father and other relatives before they handed it over to a group of his friends. They made the short journey to the cemetery adjoining the church.
The funeral of Mr Coleman’s friend, Liam Coffey from Cappoquin, will take place at 11am this morning following requiem Mass at St John the Baptist’s Church at Affane.
