The funeral of a man killed in a hit-and-run crash in Baldoyle, Dublin, last Wednesday has heard he had fulfilled a lifelong ambition to record an album of his own music, in the weeks before his death.
Michael (Mikey) Farrelly aged in his 40s was killed as he walked home from a family gathering about 1am on July 17th. The car, which had been stolen, was left at the scene and the occupant or occupants of the car fled.
Welcoming people to the funeral mass in Carnaross, Co Meath, Mr Farrelly’s younger brother Conor said the past week had been the stuff of nightmares, but the family had been consoled by the support of relatives and friends.
Conor Farrelly said his brother “saw it as his full-time employment to act the big brother to me”.
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“When I was younger I would ask him to buy me four cans of beer so me and my mates could sneak out to the beach. He would buy me two. Four was too much.”
“Without a shadow of a doubt the last few weeks of Mikey’s life were the happiest I have seen him,” he said.
“The week before he was taken from us he fulfilled a lifelong dream, recording songs from his album. When I spoke to the studio director this week he told me Mikey was high as a kite, clearly elated.”
“At a recent family dinner he took out his guitar and played some songs for us. Afterwards I just gave him a hug. I could not be more proud.”
The late Mr Farrelly was the son of Philip and the late Sylvia Farrelly, from Sutton, and brother of Conor, Lucia, Philip, Noirín and Tom.
His funeral Mass St Ciarán’s Church, Carnacross, on the Meath-Cavan border was attended by a capacity crowd with many mourners listening to the service relayed on loudspeakers throughout the churchyard.
Chief celebrant at the funeral mass was Mr Farrelly’s uncle Fr Peter Farrelly.
Fr Farrelly recalled long conversations with commenting late nephew and concluding “there was something very nice and very special about Mikey”, who, he said was “kind, gentle, caring”.
Mr Farrelly was buried alongside his late mother in Carnaross cemetery.
Gardaí are understood to believe the driver of the car was a young person known to them who has been associated in the past with car theft. It is also understood there was interaction between the gardaí and the occupant or occupants of the stolen car in the hours before Mr Farrelly being knocked down, but the driver had failed to stop when instructed to do so.
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