Hundreds of mourners called to the Galway home of Christy O'Connor jnr yesterday to pay their condolences to the family after the death of their youngest son in a road accident earlier this week.
Seventeen-year-old Darren was killed when the white BMW car he was driving was involved in a head-on collision with a white Isuzu Trooper being driven by father of four, Mr Michael Hynes, of Miltown Malbay.
Both Mr Hynes (52) and Darren's front-seat passenger, Mr David Quinn (18) of Rahoon were also killed in the accident.
All day yesterday, cars made their way up the long winding roadway that leads to the O'Connor's home at Weir House in the village of Kilcolgan about 15 miles outside Galway city.
Gardai were on traffic control duty outside the house all day with many cars being diverted into a makeshift car park in a nearby field and others following the car park signs into neighbouring houses.
The funeral cortege finally reached Salthill Church shortly after 8 p.m. last night and there were tearful scenes at the church as both young and old wept.
The huge turn-out of grief-stricken young people was testament to the immense popularity of the promising young golfer, while the large turn-out of people from the worlds of golf and business and the many charitable organisations that Christy O'Connor jnr has been involved with over the years was evidence of the enormous esteem in which Christy jnr is held.
Darren, who is a grandnephew of Christy O'Connor snr, the celebrated golfing star in the 1950s and 1960s, received the Boys Under 17 trophy in Yule only three weeks ago at the Irish Boys' Golf Championships.
He had won numerous schoolboy competitions and was only 15 when he was a member of the Galway Bay Golf Club team which won the 1996 Connacht Junior Cup Final.
Burial will take place after 12 o'clock Mass today to Rahoon Cemetery. Darren is survived by his father, Christy, and mother, Ann, his sister, Ann (21), and brother, Nigel (19), and many other relatives and friends.
The funeral of the other Galway victim of the crash, Mr David Quinn, takes place today with removal from his home at 7.30 p.m. to the Sacred Heart Church on the Seamus Quirke Road in Rahoon. Burial will take place after 12 o'clock Mass tomorrow, also to Rahoon cemetery.
He is the son of Mr Gus and Ms Deirdre Quinn and the brother of Alan and Eimhin. He is survived by many relatives and friends in Galway and Limerick.