Relatives, friends and well-wishers filled the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Ennis on Saturday for the funeral of the teenager, Lorraine O'Connor, who was killed the previous Sunday.
Father Tom Hogan, chief concelebrant of the Mass, said that in an extraordinary and historic week which had seen the IRA begin decommissioning, the Ennis community had experienced its own extraordinary week in terms of tragedy and heartbreak.
"Last weekend two young lives were suddenly taken," he said. He was referring also to Alan O'Donnell (20), from Crusheen outside Ennis, who died last Wednesday after being assaulted at a nightclub in the town the previous Saturday. A file is being prepared for the DPP.
"In some way all our families and lives have been touched because we know that life has been violated," Father Hogan said.
Floral tributes bedecked the coffin and surrounding pews and a number of Ms O'Connor's favourite songs were sung, including The Rose, Angels and With or Without You. Among the offertory gifts were a pair of dancing shoes, symbolising her proficiency in Irish dancing, and a CD representing her love of modern music.
The Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera , who lives in Ennis, was in attendance.
Father Hogan said the old people of west Kerry had a lovely saying about the dead: "N∅ imithe uainn atβ siad ach imithe romhainn." (They are not gone from us but gone before us.)
The last memories of Lorraine would be of her dancing, having a good time and enjoying life. She might have been small in stature, but she was surely big-hearted.
"As a youngster, Irish dancing was the love of her life and she got mighty, mighty enjoyment from it . . . She had the medals and trophies to testify to her skill in that area." As a teenager, she moved to disco dancing and, like any young person, was full of life and hope. "Lorraine will stay forever young," he said.
A Garda forensics team continued their examination on Saturday of the apartment where Ms O'Connor's body was found the previous Tuesday.