Hundreds of people have taken part in vigils to remember five young adults who died in a Co Louth crash on Saturday.
Three separate vigils were arranged in Ardee, Co Louth; Drumconrath, Co Meath; and Aughnamullen, Co Monaghan; to pay tribute to the deceased on Tuesday night.
The victims in the crash were: Chloe McGee (23) and Shay Duffy (21) both from Carrickmacross in Co Monaghan; Alan McCluskey (23) from Drumconrath in Co Meath; Dylan Commins (23) from Ardee in Co Louth; and Chloe Hipson (21) from Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Their remains have been returned to their families.
They were travelling together in a Volkswagen Golf while on their way to Dundalk for a night out when they died in the crash on Saturday.
RM Block
Funeral details have been announced for three of the deceased.
Ms McGee will lie in repose at her home in Barnadonagh, Carrickmacross on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 2pm each day.
There will be a removal on Saturday morning, followed by a funeral mass at St Joseph’s Church in Carrickmacross at 11am. She will be laid to rest afterwards in St Joseph’s Cemetery.
Her death notice says she is “missed beyond words” by her parents, siblings, wider family, friends and colleagues.
Mr McCluskey will lie in repose at his home in Drumconrath from 10am on Wednesday, followed by a removal on Friday.
A funeral mass will be held at St Peter and Paul’s Church in Drumconrath at 10am on Friday, followed by a burial in Drumconrath Cemetery.
“Alan will be forever remembered and greatly missed by his heartbroken family,” his death notice reads.
Mr Commins will repose at his home in Ardee on Wednesday and Thursday from 4pm to 8pm.
His funeral mass will take place at the Church of the Nativity of Our Lady in Ardee at 2pm on Friday, followed by burial in Old St Mary’s Cemetery.
Mr Commins is “sadly missed by his heartbroken family” and friends, his death notice says.
A gathering for family and friends of Ms Hipson, who is from Scotland, will take place in the Eternity Room of Quinn’s Funeral Homes in Dundalk from 4pm to 7pm on Wednesday.
Funeral arrangements for Mr Duffy are due to be announced in the coming days.
A sixth person who was in the car, also aged in his 20s, was taken to hospital for non-life threatening injuries. He was discharged from hospital on Tuesday.
Two other people were also injured in what gardaí described as a “shocking and devastating” crash.
At Drumconrath Gaelic Football Club, hundreds gathered with candles and mobile flashlights for a vigil on a cold, dark, and windy night.
The club’s flag was flown at half mast as prayers were offered to the McCluskey family, the others injured and killed in the crash as well as the emergency services who responded to the scene.
Some of those gathered wiped away tears as songs were played in tribute to those affected while the congregation also said a decade of the rosary.
Fr Finian Connaughton told the Drumconrath grouping that they were just “one community of five communities in a state of shock”.
He said while people may feel that there is nothing that can be done, this is not true as the community coming together was an expression of support to those affected.
He said he was confident that the McCluskeys and other affected families are “very well aware” that people are gathering and praying for them.
A table carrying photographs of Alan McCluskey was also on display.
Hundreds more gathered at the back of Sean McDermott’s GFC in Ardee where Rev Dermot Clarke, Deacon Parish of Haggardstown and Blackrock, was in attendance and led the candlelight service.
Meanwhile, gardaí continue to investigate all the circumstances behind the crash and issued a renewed witness appeal.
The incident, which involved the Golf and a Toyota Land Cruiser, happened on a road near Dundalk just after 9pm.
Postmortem examinations of the deceased have now been completed and their remains have been released to their families.
The two occupants of the Toyota Landcruiser, a man and a woman in their 20s, remain in hospital where they continue to receive medical treatment for non-life threatening injuries. – Additional reporting PA
