THE NEIGHBOURING counties of Waterford and Wexford were connected by "tragic thoughts and conversation" in recent days following two tragedies that led to the deaths of six people in the region, a funeral Mass heard on Saturday.
Hundreds of mourners attended the removal and funeral Mass of identical twins, Michael and Richard Walsh (33), who were found dead by a friend at their apartment in Canada Street, Waterford city.
Originally from Kilbride near Tramore, the twins had been living at the rented property for some weeks prior to their deaths.
The Walsh brothers were laid to rest on Saturday morning at St Declan's Cemetery in Riverstown, Tramore, following Mass at the Holy Cross Church in the town.
The men were interned less than 24 hours after the burials in Co Wexford of Diarmúid and Lorraine Flood, with their two children, Mark (6) and Julie (5).
The Flood family were laid to rest in the cemetery at St Clement's Church in Cloughbawn, Clonroche, Co Wexford on Friday, less than one week after all four were found dead in their fire-damaged home in Clonroche.
Officiating at the funeral Mass on Saturday morning, parish priest Msgr Michael Olden said: "Waterford and Wexford are very close neighbours, sharing a great deal." Both counties were passionate about their respective hurling teams, and shared a love of "our common coast", he said, while both counties had shared "tragic thoughts and conversation" in the last week.
"Clonroche is not far up the Dublin road from Tramore and Waterford . . . this [both tragedies] is a link that both counties wish had never occurred."
The Mass for the two brothers was concelebrated by Msgr John Shine of Tramore, Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) chaplain Fr David Keating and Fr Con O'Connell of Gracedieu Manor, a retreat and conference centre near Waterford city.
Msgr Olden said that President McAleese had contacted him to extend her sympathies to the Walsh family.
He also extended the sympathies of the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, William Lee, who could not attend on Saturday.
"Richard and Michael; they were special to the different communities to which they belonged," he said."They were special in life and sadly, special in death. And as their father Jim said so aptly in an interview, 'They came into this world together, and now they have left this world together'."
