The mother of Clonmel car crash victim Zoey Coffey told mourners at her daughter’s funeral Mass that she was a kind and caring person who, despite her tender years, was a huge support to her when her own father died a few years ago.
Demelza Fraher said Zoey was “the most beautiful gift” when she was born and she thought she would always have her. The 18-year-old died in a car crash on the night she received her Leaving Cert results along with her friends Nicole Murphy (18), Grace McSweeney (18) and Grace’s brother, Luke (24).
“Zoey was my rock when my dad [Terry] passed away,” Ms Fraher said. “She took the role of the mother’s duties, she cooked and cleaned when I had no strength after my own father passed away ... I thank God for the gift of Zoey, and I really hope she gives us the strength to get through this.”
There were tearful scenes as Ms Fraher and Zoey’s father John Coffey, and her sisters Clara, Anna, Olivia and Piper were welcomed to the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Clonmel by celebrant Fr Michael Toomey and Zoey’s pink and white coffin was brought inside.
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Many of the mourners wore pink in honour of the Presentation Convent Secondary School pupil.
Zoey’s older sister, Clara, read out a message from Ms Fraher and Mr Coffey which remembered Zoey as “bright, loving and caring” person who wanted to become a schoolteacher from an early age.
The Mass heard that Zoey received a CAO offer to study at Mary Immaculate Teacher Training College and to realise “a dream she had since she was a child”.
Ms Fraher thanked the gardaí and the emergency services who attended the scene of the crash as well as staff from Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel. She also paid tribute to the local community, priests and Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan for their support and sympathy.
“Zoey, I am so proud to have been chosen to be your mother. You were taken from us too soon, our hearts are broken and I ask God to help us and the Murphy and McSweeney families,” she added.
Clara said Friday August 25th is “a day I will never forget”. She said it “started with such excitement” as Zoey got the family up early to await her Leaving Cert results, but “ended in the tragic loss of my beautiful little sister, her friends Grace and Nicole and Grace’s brother, Luke”.
“She sat at the end of my bed which she did most mornings, boasting how she definitely got more points than I did and even if she didn’t, mine didn’t count because I hadn’t sat my Leaving Cert over Covid. We were and always will be so proud of what Zoey achieved.”
Clara said that Zoey was always willing to help others and was inseparable from Grace McSweeney from the time they met at the age of three.
“We are lucky to have so many memories to look back on – holidays, karaoke sessions in the car, love and laughter...We will always carry Zoey in our heart and until we meet again, my beautiful baby sister, rest easy with your beloved grandad and all our loved ones,” Clara said.
Fr Toomey said Zoey was a born organiser, whether at home or with her friends from primary or secondary school.
“Even her friends said of Zoey: ‘She just always wanted to have fun but was also such an organiser. Zoey was always the first person to text someone on their birthday. If Zoey wanted something done, she was going to do it’,” he said.
Among the offertory gifts were a photo of Zoey with her dog, Kendra, a bottle of tan, a uniform from Sam McCauley’s pharmacy, where she had worked during the summer holidays, and her Leaving Certificate class of 2023 hoodie.
President Michael D Higgins visited Zoey’s family on Friday evening to express his sympathies, as did Minister for Education Norma Foley. Mr Higgins was represented at the funeral Mass by his aide-de-camp, Col Stephen Howard. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was represented by his aide-de-camp, Comdt Claire Mortimer, while others in attendance included Mayor of Clonmel Cllr Richie Molloy and Bishop Cullinan, who said the Prayer of Final Commendation.
