Nenagh crash victims to be laid to rest

Three teenagers killed in a New Year’s Eve car crash will be buried today.

The funerals of Stuart Donnellan, 14, Padraig Bourke, 16, and Adrian O’Brien, 17, will be held separately in three parishes across north Tipperary.

The youths died on Wednesday evening when a car they were travelling in careered off the road and smashed into a tree.

A funeral will be held for Stuart in St Mary’s of the Rosary Church in Nenagh at 11am and for Adrian at Youghalarra Church, Newtown, at noon.

Padraig, the youngest of nine children, will be taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Silvermines, for mass at 1.30pm.

Two other occupants of the car – Thomas Clarke, 16, and the only girl in the group, 15-year-old girl Kelsey Tiernan – are still in hospital.

Kelsey, from Portroe, who was Adrian’s girlfriend, and Thomas remain in stable conditions in the Mid-Western General Hospital in Limerick.

Both Thomas and Padraig were students in St Joseph’s CBS in Nenagh, where counselling will be offered to pupils after the Christmas break.

Vice-principal Danny Grace said a special memorial mass will also be held.

Meanwhile, crash investigators are continuing to look into the circumstances of the crash, which has plunged much of north Tipperary into mourning.

Father Brendan Maloney, of Silvermines Parish, said the entire community has been supportive of the families affected.

“The initial grief and shock has been horrendous, but today is another day,” he said.

“The community has been very supportive and the presence of people has made a big difference.”

Nenagh parish priest Father Pat Malone said the accident was a tragedy for a number of parishes.

“There is a network of communities involved which have been shocked by these tragic deaths,” he said.

“A significant section of north Tipperary will be mourning for these young people.”