Parents release white doves at funeral of son, 6

The devastated parents of Jake Brennan released two doves into the sky at his funeral yesterday as they continued to struggle to come to terms with his death.

The little boy was hit by a car last Thursday night while playing outside his house in a cul-de-sac in the Lintown Hall estate on the edge of Kilkenny City.

While he was able to get up and run to his mother, he soon lost consciousness and was pronounced dead in hospital.

Hundreds of people packed into St John’s Church in the city yesterday to pay their respects to the six-year-old and to try to offer some support to his parents Christopher and Roseann.

Parish priest Fr Frank Purcell told the congregation that the little boy’s death was so tragic and so painful and that there was not a lot that people could tell his parents to try to ease their suffering.

He said some who were trying to be well-meaning might tell them it was “God’s will”.

However, he said that was nonsense, and was just borne out of them not knowing what else to say.

During the Mass of the Angels ceremony, a number of items that were precious to Jake were brought to the altar, including his favourite teddy bear and one of his school books.

As he carried his son’s little white coffin from the church, Christopher Brennan tenderly kissed it before he and Roseann released the doves into the sky.

A long procession of family, friends and supportive locals, including members of a Homework Club, then escorted the hearse from the church and through the city streets to St Kieran’s Cemetery.