The funeral has taken place of the Armagh boy who died suddenly after taking ill on his first day of the new school term.
Jamie McGee (6) died in Craigavon Area Hospital after being rushed there by the emergency services. He had collapsed at his desk at St Patrick's primary school on the Loughgall Road in Armagh on Monday.
His requiem Mass at St Patrick's Cathedral in the city was celebrated by Fr Seán Dooley, chaplain to the primary school, and concelebrated by Fr Tommy McNulty, Fr Eugene Sweeney and Fr Gerry Ferguson. Hymns were sung by the school choir.
Jamie's white coffin was carried to the cathedral and passed a guard of honour formed by his fellow pupils at St Patrick's followed by his parents Jill and Gerald, and his immediate family, some of whom carried personal effects belonging to him.
A school jotter and a DVD of Jamie's performance in last month's school nativity play were placed near the coffin as it passed before the high altar.
Delivering the homily, Fr Dooley recalled Christ's insistence that little children be allowed to come to him.
"Jamie was a handsome boy," he said. "He had many friends in his class and his age group. At school he was very well mannered - always saying please and thank you to the kitchen staff." He was also a happy child, he said, who had a gentle nature and who never squabbled nor got into fights at school.
"While his death is heart-breaking, we are grateful that he died among friends, his teacher and his mother beside him." His teacher, Mrs Knipe, the priest said, referred to Jamie as her "maths magician" because of his love of the subject.
Jamie's relatives, some clearly overcome, read prayers, the psalm and the lesson. Fr Dooley called on the large congregation to "think creatively" like children, saying this would help them cope with the grief process. The coffin was taken from the cathedral as the anthem of Liverpool football club, You'll Never Walk Alonewas played, marking the boy's devotion to the team. He was buried in the nearby cemetery.