'The life and soul of his family': Emotional scenes as Kerry teen Thomas Healy laid to rest

Thomas Healy died last Wednesday when the car he was driving crashed into a tree on the Ross Road in Killarney.

This Saturday morning would have been so different. Like many other weekends, Thomas Healy might have been preparing for training or for a match for Killarney Athletic AFC U15/16s, or had an eye on any upcoming engagements with Beaufort GAA. But it was a very different Saturday morning.

The funeral cortege for the 14-year-old, who died last Wednesday when the car he was driving crashed into a tree on the Ross Road, instead departed his family home so as to arrive at St Mary's Church, Beaufort for Requiem Mass. As his coffin was carried into the church, Thomas' brother, Jack, sang played the Beatles' Let It Be, altering the lyrics at one stage to "shine until tomorrow, young Healy".