Thousands gathered in collective grief in the centre of Clonmel, Co Tipperary, on Sunday evening, in a vigil held to mark the tragic deaths of “four wonderful young people”.
Nicole Murphy, Zoey Coffey, Grace McSweeney (all 18) and Ms McSweeney’s brother Luke (24) were killed when, during a heavy downpour on Friday evening, the vehicle they were travelling in overturned and hit a wall on Mountain Road in Clonmel.
Ms Coffey and Ms McSweeney, pupils at Clonmel’s Presentation Secondary School, as well as Ms Murphy – a former student at Loreto Secondary School in the town – had received their Leaving Cert results just hours before the crash.
On Sunday evening, at Kickham Barracks Plaza in Clonmel, members of the clergy led prayers and eulogies offered for the four victims.
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Clonmel crash: The four young people who lost their lives
Addressing the vigil, the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Alphonsus Cullinan, spoke of the devastation visited on the bereaved families.
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“Death has visited them, and the beautiful young lives of Luke, and Zoey and Grace and Nicole, left them, and they are silent before death,” he said.
Bishop Cullinan carried a message of solace in closing his address: “You will come together and [the bereaved families] will come together and you will help them to come together.”
Speaking to the media after the service, the bishop agreed that there may be a need for a renewed national debate on road safety. “The Road Safety Authority, I’m sure, they’re keeping an eye on this, and they’re constantly trying to pump out the message to us all.
“Whatever happened here, we simply don’t know,” he added.
Fr Michael Toomey, the chaplain at CBS High School Clonmel, praised the response of the local community in the face of such profound tragedy.
[ Clonmel crash: Community ‘grieving together’ after loss of four young peopleOpens in new window ]
[ Clonmel crash: school principals speak of 'unbearable grief' in local communityOpens in new window ]
“When needed most, the people of Clonmel, from all ages, all backgrounds, rallied around together, to help and support not just the families, but one another,” he said.
“There are occasions in life where no words actually seem appropriate. We enter total sadness and desolation, we’re numbed, speechless. This weekend that’s exactly what everyone in Clonmel, Ballypatrick and Kilsheelan – right across the country, indeed, have felt.”
People offered candles and flowers at the temporary altar on Kickham Barracks Plaza after the service, while others – some wearing school jumpers – held tight embraces and cried.
Throughout Sunday, people visited makeshift shrines at Loreto Secondary School on Coleville Road and, some 150m up the road, at the scene of Friday night’s crash.
