Caoimhin Porter-McLoone “always tried to see the good in people”, his funeral in Derry has heard.
The teenager, who lost his life alongside his friend Daniel Cullen in a crash in Co Donegal, was remembered as someone who was always ready to aid others.
The 18-year-old, from Moyola Avenue in Shantallow, died on Tuesday night alongside his friend Cullen (18), whose funeral Mass will take place in Derry on Sunday afternoon.
They were passengers in a car which was involved in a collision with a lorry at about 11.15pm on Tuesday on the R236 road in the village of St Johnston in east Donegal, while a third teenager, the driver of the car, was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
READ MORE
“Two young lives, two families, two communities, now carrying a grief that feels unbearable,” Fr Michael McGavigan, told mourners at Porter-McLoone’s funeral Mass in St Brigid’s Church, Carnhill.
A Manchester United hat and scarf sat at the altar, alongside a photo of Porter-McLoone in his beloved team’s kit.
Some mourners were also decked in Manchester United colours. Wreaths in Man United and Celtic colours adorned the hearse, while students from St Brigid’s College, where the deceased was a past pupil, and Don Boscos Football Club, the club he had played for, formed a guard of honour.
“Hearts are heavy, shocked and sore,” said McGavigan, the Three Patrons parish priest, at the funeral Mass. Fr Declan McGeehan, PP of neighbouring Steelstown, concelebrated.
“It is difficult even to find the right words, because this kind of loss is that loss that leaves people stunned and breathless.
“The death has come suddenly and painfully, and it has left many hearts broken. There is disbelief, confusion, and a grief that feels too heavy for words. Today, we do not pretend otherwise.
“We come just as we are: stunned, grieving, and carrying love that now has nowhere to go.”
Porter-McLoone was buried in the City Cemetery alongside his father, Darren McLoone, who died in December 2024.
Porter-McLoone is survived by his mother Stephanie, siblings Chloe, Hunter, Shea, Darren and Ben, and a wide family circle.
McGavigan told mourners how his heartbroken mother had spoken of “a good child, who never brought any bother, always smiling, always ready to wind up and carry on”.
He added: “He was affectionate and loving, never leaving the house without a kiss and a hug and an ‘I love you’. Those moments are priceless now. They are a gift that nothing can take away.
“Only 18 years of age, a life just beginning to open out. A young man who had taken time after the tragic death of his father Darren just over a year ago and who was now ready, ready to start work, ready to build something, ready to make his mark on the world.”
