The grief stricken mothers of a teenage couple who died in road traffic collision last week held each other in a long embrace on Thursday as the second of their two funerals concluded.
Delia Keary (18) and Gary Kelly (18) were killed when the car in which they were travelling collided with a truck near Abbeyfeale, Co Limerick.
At St Joseph’s Church in Ennis, Gary’s mother, Kim, was the first to walk across the aisle to Delia’s mother, Rosie Gilboy, to sympathise with her on the death of her only child.
The two mothers held each other tightly as former school friends of the young couple at Rice College sang a graduation year song in their memory.
A message from Delia’s mother was read to the congregation, saying: “Delia loved Gary and he loved her and she couldn’t have wished for a more perfect boy to be with her.”
Other messages were read from friends of the couple, many of whom had also attended Gary’s funeral in Ennis on Wednesday.
“All her friends told of how much she loved and adored Gary and about how much when on nights out, she would message Gary from all her friends’ phones saying ‘I miss Gary’,” a family friend told the congregation.
“Another friend said that Gary fell in love with Delia the moment he met the six foot stunner while another friend said that ‘Gary would mind her now, like he always did, so we shouldn’t worry’.”
Another friend recalled how “Delia was so lucky to have a Mum like Rosie and she could talk to her about anything”, while another said “I think that everyone fell in love with Delia, her gorgeous smile, her crazy imagination and her deep blue eyes and the love that she naturally radiated”.
Another friend said Delia “is someone who would help us at our lowest, lift us higher at our best and make the rest of our time worth living”.
Fianna Fáil Clare TD Timmy Dooley was in the congregation and heard how Delia and her friends took down one of his election posters and brought it back to a friend’s house where they posed with it for photos.
A male friend recalled how meeting Delia for the first time four years ago she saw that he dropped a pice of paper on the ground and Delia picked it up and gave to him saying: “Save the turtles.”
Celebrant Fr Jerry Carey observed how most of the congregation was also at Gary’s Mass.
“In an instant last Friday, Gary and Delia were wedded as one in our memory forever. Delia had kindness and generosity that she seeped through her love of people and animals.”
Delia had attended the CBS and Rice College in Ennis from senior infants to Leaving Cert and the students from the school turned out in great numbers at the church.
At the end of the Mass, friends from their Leaving Cert year in 2016 sang The Wanted song Gold Forever with the lyrics: "Say my name like it's the last time, Live today like it's your last night. We want to cry but we know it's alright, 'Cause I'm with you and you're with me."
