TWO YOUNG friends were buried side by side in an Offaly cemetery yesterday, following a car crash which claimed their lives on Saturday morning.
There was not even standing room at St Saran’s Church in High Street, Belmont, as mourners gathered to attend the funerals of Caoimhe Feerick-Ryan and Patrick Kenny, both from Belmont and 19-years-old.
The past few days had been “harrowing” for the area, parish priest Fr Frank Murray told the congregation.
The two friends were returning from Athlone with another friend David Kearns at about 4.40am on Saturday when the car in which they were travelling went out of control at Doon, crashed and caught fire. Mr Kearns escaped from the car and raised the alarm but it was too late for his friends.
Prayers were offered at the funerals for Mr Kearns, who attended the services with hundreds of relatives and parishioners. Make-shift car parks were opened in fields and local people provided tea and sandwiches to the mourners.
The church was almost full 30 minutes before Ms Feerick-Ryan’s funeral cortege arrived. Fr Murray recalled a beautiful, artistic and talented young woman who would “live forever in the light of God’s face”. Her vibrant yellow shoes were carried to the altar, reflecting her eclectic style and “speaking exactly of who Caoimhe is”, Fr Pierre Pepper said.
Her art portfolio recalled the creativity of the Athlone IT design student while her mobile phone needed no explanation. “Caoimhe loved to talk,” Fr Pepper said.
Caoimhe’s uncle, Seán Feerick, spoke of her great sense of place and “how rooted she is, here in Belmont”.
Her greatest quality was her understanding of the concept of time. “Time with people, time to chat, time to reflect in a very special way,” he said.
Some 90 minutes after she was buried in the adjoining cemetery, more than a dozen vintage and sports cars led Patrick Kenny’s funeral cortege to St Saran’s Church. His love of cars and mechanics was recalled by items carried to the altar, including a replica Ford Cosworth. A photograph of his family, including parents Paddy and Majella and sisters Helen and Mary was also carried to the altar with a picture of Our Lady holding the body of Jesus.
In his homily, Fr Pepper said Patrick was a young man with a full life ahead of him. “All the possibilities . . . that lay in store have been taken from him, have been taken from his family, his friends.”
