The classmates of an girl killed alongside three friends in a tragic car crash as they celebrated their exam results last week are saying their final farewell today as the teenager is laid to rest in Ireland.
Nicole Murphy, 18, died on Friday along with Zoey Coffey and Grace McSweeney, both also 18, and Ms McSweeney’s 24-year-old brother Luke, when their car overturned and hit a wall in Clonmel, Co Tipperary.
The mass for Ms Murphy is taking place at St John the Baptist Church in Kilcash, near Clonmel. Hundreds of people gathered outside the church as the hearse carrying the teenager’s white coffin arrived just after 12pm.
Classmates from Loreto Secondary School gathered under umbrellas and formed a guard of honour as the casket was brought into the church.
President of Ireland Michael D Higgins and Education Minister Norma Foley are among those in attendance.
The service for Nicole Murphy, 18, (pictured) is taking place at St John the Baptist Church in Kilcash, near Clonmel, after she was killed in a car crash on Friday
Loreto Secondary School students take flowers into St John the Baptist Church in Kilcash, near Clonmel, Co Tipperary ahead of the funeral of Nicole Murphy, August 31
Hundreds of people gathered outside the church as the hearse carrying the teenager’s white coffin arrived just after 12pm. Pictured: Ms Murphy’s classmates are seen outside, August 31
Luke McSweeney was driving the teenagers to a bus on Friday when the car overturned and crashed into a wall in Clonmel.
The youngsters were on their way to celebrate their Leaving Cert exam results, which they had received earlier on Friday.
Tributes poured in for the four youngsters, and around 2,000 people attended a vigil in Clonmel on Sunday evening, with people lighting candles and placing pictures on stairs at a local square.
Pictures on Monday showed hundreds of flowers placed along a wall outside Loreto Secondary School near to the scene of a crash.
A joint funeral for Mr and Ms McSweeney will take place in Clonmel on Friday while Ms Coffey will be laid to rest in the town on Saturday.
Thursday’s funeral comes after three more lives were lost in another road tragedy in Co Tipperary days after the Clonmel crash – sending shock waves through the local community still reeling from Friday’s incident.
A young boy and his grandparents died in the single-vehicle collision in Cashel on Tuesday evening. Thomas O’Reilly, 45, his wife Bridget O’Reilly, 46, and their three-year-old grandson Tom O’Reilly were killed.
The child’s parents, both aged 22, were injured in the crash. The man is being treated for serious injuries while gardai said the woman had sustained less serious injuries.
Classmates from Loreto Secondary School gathered under umbrellas and formed a guard of honour (pictured) as the casket was brought into the church
Former students of Loreto Secondary School attend the funeral of Nicole Murphy at St John the Baptist Church in Kilcash, near Clonmel, August 31
Irish President Michael D Higgins attends the funeral of Nicole Murphy at St John the Baptist Church in Kilcash, near Clonmel, Ireland, August 31
The single-vehicle collision occurred shortly before 9pm on Tuesday when a car hit a wall in the Windmill-Knockbulloge area of Cashel.
A vigil for the victims is to be held in St John the Baptist Church in Cashel on Thursday afternoon.
A week of tragedy on Ireland’s roads has also seen two male motorcyclists aged in their 40s killed in separate road crashes on Sunday evening in Dublin and in Belmont, Co Offaly.
On Tuesday morning a man in his 40s died in a single-car crash at Carrowreagh, Co Donegal, while on Wednesday there was another tragedy on the roads when a three-year-old girl was knocked down and killed in a collision in Portlaoise in Co Laois.
I am Rakesh Sharma, I associated with Elite News as an Editor, since 2021. I take care of all the news operations like content, budget, hiring and policy making.