Shattered community says farewell to two angels
The little Church of the Nativity at Rosnaree in Donore parish witnessed the occasion and heard the weeping twice over.
In the morning, the funeral of 18-year-old Claire McCluskey took place, followed in the afternoon by that of her young schoolmate, 15-year-old Lisa Callan.
Several hundred mourners packed the small church and its grounds and stood lining the road outside bathed in bright sunshine and birdsong. Swallows darted and dived as they nipped in and out of their nests under the slates of the old church roof in a pastureland setting with a beauty that belied the sorrow hanging in the air.
It was almost too much for a grief-stricken Marie McCluskey who slumped momentarily into the firm grip of her husband Christy as the couple walked with difficulty into the church with their surviving daughters, Maria and Anita.
Christy McCluskey told the congregation he always believed when he looked at his three daughters that he had three angels in his home. Now Claire was an angel for real. With bravery that moved many mourners to tears, the heartbroken father recalled last Monday’s events and spoke of his family’s sympathy for the driver of the school bus, John Hubble. “Our hearts go out to him,” he said.
He thanked Mr Hubble for his efforts in tending to the dying and injured on that dreadful afternoon, and paid particular praise to another young passenger, 15-year-old Philip Sheridan, who led Claire’s younger sister, Anita, and other dazed and frightened children to safety.
Claire had wanted to be a teacher, recalled Tom Hutchins, principal of nearby Knockcommon National School where she and Lisa Callan had attended before graduating to St Michael’s Loreto Secondary School in Navan. He recalled the day she announced her intentions and persuaded her teacher to let her try her hand at her chosen profession.
“We all learnt a lot that day - pupils and teachers,” he said to smiles and laughter from all who knew Claire’s confidence and determination.
Tributes were also paid by Claire’s older sister, Maria, who described her younger sibling as “wonderful”. She said she had no doubt that Claire, and Deirdre Scanlon, her classmate in the Loreto leaving cert year, would be looking after the three younger victims of the crash in heaven.
Songs chosen by the family and sung by teenage friends with the knowledge that Claire would applaud their taste included I Will Be There by Paul Brady and a Mary Black favourite with the line “heaven knows no frontiers”.
Schoolmates brought some of Claire’s cuddly toy collection to the altar along with the key to her school locker which was a microcosm of her packed school schedule and hectic social life. Other friends carried single stems of yellow roses for her grave.
In the afternoon the roses for Junior Cert student Lisa Callan were white.
The same tremendous support that turned out for the McCluskey family in the morning returned once more - dozens of teenagers in school uniforms, members of the emergency services, public representatives, relatives, neighbours, workmates and friends. Fr David Bradley, a priest of the neighbouring Holy Family parish in Drogheda, greeted them as he had done just a few hours before. “Thank you for coming on this, the saddest of all occasions.”
Parish Priest of Donore, Fr John Brogan, described it as a “time of sadness and brokenness” for the area.
“Our community was shattered by the events of last Monday,” he said. He praised the support and sympathy shown by the community to all the bereaved families, including Lisa’s parents, Vincent and Patricia, and her only sibling, her little brother, sixth class pupil Andrew.
“With hope and encouragement from the community, they will gather up the pieces and face the future. That is our prayer.” Schoolgirls with tear-stained faces formed guards of honour as the funeral corteges departed for the graveyards, stopping a short distance along the road to pause outside their old national school.
Claire was buried at Kilcommon Cemetery, a few kilometres from her home. Lisa was brought to Ballpousta Cemetery near Ardee to be near the graves of her beloved grandparents.
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