Tragic loss leaves tiny village engulfed by tears and disbelief

TWO cousins were yesterday buried side by side as a village engulfed in grief came to terms with the tragic loss of four young people.

Up to 1,000 mourners congregated at the parish church overlooking Threemilehouse, Co Monaghan, to pay their final respects to the victims of this weekend’s horrific car crash.

Brian O’Neill, Gary McCormick, Ciaran Hagan and Dermot Thornton were killed in the early hours of Saturday morning when two vehicles collided less than a mile from the village.

A fifth man — 27-year-old John McQuillan — remains in critical condition fighting for his life.

At noon, Brian O’Neill was buried in St Mary’s Church yard.

Less than three hours later, his two friends — first cousins Gary McCormick and Ciaran Hagan — were laid to rest opposite him in a double grave.

Dermot Thornton’s funeral will be held today.

All three coffins arrived at the church draped in the flag of their local GAA club, Sean Mac Diarmada.

A guard of honour formed by friends on motorbikes led the cousins to the church.

The tragic accident has left the tiny village numb and empty.

The men’s parents, siblings, grandparents and relations united to mourn their loss.

Teenage girls, many in school uniforms, openly hugged and wept while groups of young men stared in disbelief.

The village was brought to a standstill as cars lined its main street and passing traffic weaved through.

The church and the graveyard overlook the family homes of both Brian O’Neill and Gary McCormick, leaving their families with a poignant reminder of the weekend’s atrocity.

Brian, 19, son of Brian and Eileen, lived in the Cabra housing estate and leaves behind his brother Shane and sister Sinead.

Gary, 20, lived just doors away on the same estate and leaves his parents Jannette and Eugene, sister Aoife and brothers Christopher, Brian and Conor.

Ciaran, 20, from nearby Ballagh, has left parents, Kathleen and Paul, sisters Gráinne and Michaela and brother Shane.

Sisters Jannette and Kathleen are grieving their eldest sons.

Parish priest, Father Joseph McCluskey, told the first congregation that the hardest thing he has ever done since his ordination was to visit the accident scene and give the young men their last rites.

He said he was quite sure, when the five set out on their journey on Saturday morning, they never considered the grief and sorrow that would be felt by their families.

A sea of flowers still marks the scene of the accident.

Two cars were travelling in opposite directions when they collided at Kilnaclay on the Clones side of Monaghan town at 2.15am.

President Mary McAleese, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the Bishop of Clogher Joseph Duffy, who is currently in Rome, all sent their condolences to the families.

Dermot Thornton, 21, from Crumlin, Threemilehouse, was driving one of the vehicles carrying Brian and Gary as passengers.

Ciaran was travelling alone in the second car.

Gardaí, some who attended the funerals, are still investigating the incident.

Both Dermot and Gary worked for Treanor Fireplaces, while Brian was a first-year student at Letterkenny Institute of Technology.

Ciaran had just returned home from France, where he was working on a wind farm project. He was due to attend a friend’s wedding on Saturday.

Fr Martin O’Reilly, a family friend who officiated at the cousins’ funeral, said he had no doubt everyone was heartbroken and devastated by the tragedy but thanked God for the life and enjoyment the four men had given to everyone.

He said: “One of the most difficult things that priests have to do is to officiate a funeral for someone much younger than themselves and feel the heartbreak, pain and suffering of their parents, brothers, sisters and grandparents.

“To witness the tears and anxiety and numbness of their friends that gather around their house, that sit on walls looking into space wondering what has happened and why it has happened.”

Fr O’Reilly said in his 12 years as a priest he has buried more of the generation that came after him than the generation before him.

“That saddens me so, so much,” he said.

Of the media presence at the funeral, he said many people may say it’s cold, undignified and intrusive, but he said, we need to realise the hurt and pain other people experience, or we will never understand what took place at the weekend.

Youth director at the diocese of Clogher, Fr O’Reilly used his homily to reach out to the parents.

He said in the wake of the Celtic Tiger, children were forgotten and adults needed to be there for them, give them time and teach them right from wrong.

Mr McQuillan is on a life-support machine at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. His mother and other family members were called to the hospital as his conditioned worsened.

His father Sean died in a tragic accident at a quarry in Co Donegal over a year ago.