Two sisters buried within two weeks
Mourners wept as Sarah’s parents Tina and David followed her coffin into the Church of Our Lady and St David in the centre of the Kildare town for her requiem Mass.
The congregation heard how the local community was numb at the double grief suffered by the girls’ parents.
Sarah, 19, a student from Twomilehouse, Naas, was killed after the car in which she was a passenger collided with a van a short distance from her home last Saturday afternoon. Her sister, Katie, 15, died on July 28 after a long battle against leukaemia.
Family friend Fr Paul Dempsey reminded mourners how Sarah had bravely stood on the same altar just a short time ago to read a reflection on the death of her younger sister. The priest spoke about the extraordinary strength and maturity she had shown during Katie’s long illness.
In his homily, Fr Dempsey said people could have no idea of the grief being suffered by Sarah’s parents who were still coming to terms with the loss of Katie when they learnt of the death of their only other daughter.
He also recalled how the family had been planning to have a meal and watch a DVD last Saturday evening before the Fitzgeralds had been struck “by a cruel twist of fate”.
However, Fr Dempsey said he hoped the two girls would remain “shining lights” for Tina and David as they tried to cope with difficult days in the future.
There were echoes of laughter in the church as he recalled examples of Sarah’s strength of character such as the occasion when she had ordered a pint of milk at her debs and when she had declined to attend a function with her family as she explained: “I don’t do small talk.”
She had even wanted to get a small tattoo with the word “strength”, said Fr Dempsey.
The congregation also heard how David Fitzgerald had kept recent text messages sent to him by Sarah wishing him a happy Father’s Day and looking for petrol money.
Prayers were also said for Sarah’s boyfriend, Jason Burke, who suffered huge injuries in the crash.
Jason, 20, from Coolrake, Moone, Co Kildare, who was described as Sarah’s “soulmate”, remains in a critical condition at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin where he was operated on Sunday to remove a blood clot from his brain.
Several hundred mourners stood outside the church as a guard of honour was formed by Sarah’s friends from the Kildare International Equestrian Centre.
Afterwards, her coffin was placed in the same family plot where Katie was buried exactly two weeks earlier at St Corban’s Cemetery in Naas.
