Tears as sports star Aoife laid to rest
But yesterday, the grief-stricken family and friends of the once-vibrant and talented young sports star, Aoife Downey, 15, who died after a freak sledding accident in Cork at the weekend, gathered to say goodbye.
Chief celebrant Fr Bob Brophy told mourners at the Church of the Incarnation in Frankfield that Aoife was doing on Saturday what every young person should do — “being fully alive, enjoying life and being adventurous”.
“An accident that could have happened to any young person in this church this morning, and yet indiscriminately, it happened to poor Aoife.
“I know parents are imagining the nightmare that that could have been my child. And that’s the horrendous nightmare to visit you, the Downey family, a nightmare that you would hope to awaken from.
“Why did it happen to such a beautiful, talented girl like Aoife, with so much potential, and to such a lovely family like the Downey family?
“It would be trite to suggest there is a human answer to all this. We are in the realm of mystery.”
But he said Aoife achieved so much in such a short life and her family and friends would keep her alive in their hearts and prayers.
Aoife was a member of Douglas Camogie Club, Douglas Ladies Football Club, Douglas Hall Soccer Club, and a member of the Cork U16 ladies football team, and several gifts symbolising her love of life and sport were placed on the altar.
Her younger sisters, Caoimhe and Éadaoin, carried a hurley, a football and their big sister’s Féile-winning necklace.
Her All-Ireland winning medal and team photograph were placed on the altar — mourners were told the medal was one of her greatest achievements and one of her family’s proudest moments.
A family photograph was then placed on the altar to represent happy times in Castletownbere, Donoughmore, Praia da Luz, Carrigaline, Bantry or “anywhere there was a gang to have fun”.
Among the congregation was Aoife’s best-friend, Chelsea Noonan, who was seriously injured in the accident. Sitting in a wheelchair, she listened as her mother, Helen, recalled their precious times together.
Ms Noonan said Aoife spent so much time in their house she was like another daughter.
“You and Chelsea were joined at the hip. Wherever there was one of you, the other wasn’t too far away,” Ms Noonan said.
“You shared your lives with each other. If there was anything going on, the two of you were always first in the queue.
“The crazier the situation, the better, behind any chance for a laugh or a joke, look no further than Chelsea and Aoife.
“We will miss you so much from our lives and our home, but you will always have a place in our hearts.”
People then began to weep openly as Ms Noonan read a poem, penned by Chelsea, called My Friend and Me.
Aoife’s father, Sean, said Aoife had never been happier than in recent months, and that all she ever wanted from him was his time. “She never looked for anything else really.”
He recalled their times pucking a sliothar and said his proudest moment was when she was on the team that won the Féile competition in 2009.
“I could hardly watch the match, but I pucked every ball with her,” he said. “I was the first on to the field to congratulate her. It is a special moment I will always have.”
Through sport, he said, Aoife met loads of new friends and got so much pleasure out of the game.
“She hadn’t a bad word to say about anybody — even opponents,” he said.
“I said to her: ‘You have to be tough, you have to play against these people — you can like them afterwards’.”
And there was laughter when he told mourners that Aoife had begun calling her mum Sibh and him, Seanie Boy.
“Our lives will never be the same again, we’ll miss your happy smile and funny comments,” he said.
Her tearful classmates from Christ the King school then held hands, and formed a guard of honour outside the church as the coffin was carried to the hearse and transported for burial in Ballinrea cemetery.
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