Family and friends say goodbye to heroic firefighter

FIREFIGHTER Mark O’Shaughnessy used to jump out of his seat like a bullet, like Batman when his beeper went off, mourners at the Bray man’s funeral were told yesterday.

Family and friends say goodbye to heroic firefighter

Hundreds of firefighters turned out at the Church of Our Lady’s Queen of Peace in Bray for the funeral Mass of the 26-year-old, who died along with colleague Brian Murray while both were putting out a fire at disused factory in the Wicklow town last week.

During emotional moments yesterday, friends and family told the packed church about their fondest memories of Mr O’Shaughnessy. Local curate Fr Finbarr Millane reminded mourners of the large granite cross on Bray Head behind the church, a stark reminder of their faith and the death of Jesus Christ. He added: “A tragic, a very severe cross came upon all in Bray last Wednesday, at midday. A great tragedy, unexpected, hard to believe. Suddenly, quickly, two young men lost their lives.”

Mark’s girlfriend Hazel O’Brien, stricken with grief, read a prayer while songs during the Mass included Ave Maria.

Mark’s lifelong friend Keith Gordon told how both friends played in the high grass as kids and had once crashed a car, belonging to his sister Niamh, into the family home.

His best friend said he had hoped they would grow up as neighbours together.

“You never stopped talking about the Civil Defence, the fire service and all your colleagues... one of your more annoying habits was to walk into a building and give a critique of their fire safety standards,” he joked.

“How many times did your beeper go off while you were having dinner. You would rise out of the seat like Batman and you’d be off like a bullet,” he said.

Emphasising their bond as friends, he read the lyrics to Rolf Harris’s tune Two Little Boys.

The fallen firefighter’s brother Eamon told mourners his sibling had been like a rock for the family, reliable and always there in times of need. He had a mischievous smile but a loving heart, he said.

Mourners included hundreds of firefighters from several counties and from New York, members of the Civil Defence, representatives for the President and Taoiseach, the Garda Commissioner, ministers, TDs and trade union chiefs.

A lone bagpiper played as Mark’s coffin was carried outside and the cortege began its slow procession to Springfield Cemetery.

Shops and businesses shut their doors as fire trucks led the cortege through Bray.

Hundreds of fire officers, silent and stern, marched behind the coffin, itself draped over with the Irish flag.

The removal of Brian Murray took place last night and he will be buried today following 11.30am Mass at the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer on Bray’s main street.

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