Laid to rest together

Little Clarissa McCarthy was laid to rest in a single coffin in the arms of her devoted father who had carried the 3-year-old into the pitch-black waters of West Cork earlier in the week.

A cuddly toy — a white lamb — represented Clarissa’s short life on this Earth, accompanied to an altar by a bronze statuette of a man and his dog, recalling the farm life associated with her father, Martin.

Both bodies were brought to St Mary’s Church in Schull yesterday where hundreds of mourners paid their last respects.