THE funeral took place in Cork at the weekend of Stephen Kirby (17), of Parklands, Fairhill. He was the second young man to die in an incident involving a stolen car on St Patrick's night.
Mr Kirby had gone to a local chip shop with a friend, Mr Trevor O'Connell, also 17, when they were struck by the car, which was being driven at speed.
Mr O'Connell died instantly. Mr Kirby died on Thursday.
For the second time in a week, thousands of people from Cork's north side turned out to express sympathy with the grieving family.
In the Church of the Resurrection, friends laid wreaths on the young man's coffin to the strains of Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven.
Father Gus Byrnes, the chief concelebrant at the Requiem Mass, said the community was shocked and saddened by Mr Kirby's death. Both he and Mr O'Connell were young men with everything to live for, he said.
Their untimely deaths made it even harder to bear, he added, but Mr Kirby's parents and family could take some comfort from the fact the community shared in their sorrow.
Young people wept at the church and nearby graveyard as Mr Kirby was buried.
The chief mourners were Mr Kirby's mother, Ms Sheila Kirby his father, Patrick; his two brothers, Michael and Gary; and his sister, Martina.
There is growing anger in Cork at car racing and car theft which has been a serious problem on the city's north side.
Since the two deaths, there have been calls for the Garda to use the stinger system of spikes which punctures the tyres of speeding cars.
Residents of the Parklands area, where both young men lived, are planning to hold a protest march to the City Hall in Cork later this week to highlight the problem of car theft.
Mr O'Connell was an accomplished soccer player and was due to go to Derby County on a trial next season.