A priest officiating at the funeral of the fourth of the five teenagers killed in the M9 motorway crash told mourners that “what the boys did was wrong”.
Fr Thomas Little, celebrating the funeral Mass for Jeremy O’Brien, who was 18 and from Carlow, at the Church of the Holy Family in Askea, on the outskirts of the town, said the young man’s family prayed “for all those who were affected ... and injured”.
The funeral of O’Brien’s cousin Alex McCarthy, who was 16, took place at the same church on Friday.
The two were killed along with Kamil Pustkowski, who was 17 and from Limerick, 15-year-old Joe Carthy and 17-year-old Jack Kennedy, from Athy, when the BMW in which they were travelling was in a head-on collision near Moone, in Co Kildare, at about 3am on Sunday, August 16th.
READ MORE
The BMW was travelling the wrong way, heading southbound on the northbound carriageway of the motorway. Four occupants of the other car in the collision, a Hyundai travelling in the correct direction, remain in serious condition in three Dublin hospitals.
[ Who were the M9 crash teenagers?Opens in new window ]
The sisters Alma and Niamh Kinsella, along with their younger sister Ella Hendricken and their seven-year-old nephew Yemi, were en route from Carlow to Dublin Airport at the time.
Hundreds of mourners at O’Brien’s funeral were led by his mother, Margaret; brothers Jamie, Felix, Myles and Vincent; and grandparents Mary and Felix.
A framed photograph of the young man was displayed on the pale wooden coffin as the service took place.
The priest said the family’s “grief and sadness” were made heavier because the crash has affected not just Jeremy.
“Several lives have been lost, and others have been seriously injured. Families have been changed forever. There are people in hospital fighting to recover, and there are families who are beginning the painful journey of learning to live with an empty place at their table.”
He said the death of a young person was “always difficult to accept”.
“There is something especially sad about a young life being taken suddenly, unexpectedly and before so many hopes and dreams have been realised.”
Death was “not the final word”, however. “God who gave us life does not abandon us in death,” he said.
“While today we acknowledge that what the boys did was wrong, we must not allow tragedy to become the only story, as we pray for those who were injured and who have died.
“So today we give thanks for the great gift of life, however short that may be.”
Brothers of O’Brien became upset reading the prayers of the faithful, including “for all those affected by the accident”, as family members at the front of the church comforted each other.
O’Brien’s coffin was carried on the shoulders of his family to a black carriage drawn by two black horses with plumes of bright blue decorating their heads.
His remains were borne to the nearby St Mary’s cemetery, where he was laid to rest next to his cousin.
After he was lowered into the ground, pale-blue and white balloons were released into the air, and mourners clapped, saying: “Fly high, Jeremy.”
Though the Garda presence was low-key at the church, it was noticeably more visible at the graveyard.
The final funeral, of Kennedy, will take place in Athy on Tuesday. Those of Carthy, McCarthy and Pustkowski took place on Friday.
