Young Limerick mother's death has 'touched the lives of all communities'
A Picture of Marguerita and her husband at her funeral mass at St Mary's Church Rathkeale over Christmas. Picture: Brendan Gleeson
A Limerick priest who presided over the funeral mass of the late Marguerita O’Rourke — who died in a hit-and-run before Christmas — has described her death as “an unspeakable tragedy”.
Up to 1,000 people packed into St Mary’s Church in Rathkeale on 29 December to say their final farewells to the young mother who celebrated the birth of her first baby Edward with her husband Denis three weeks before her death.
The 21-year-old died in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) following the fatal collision on Saturday, December 21. A man has been charged in connection with her death.
Since her sudden passing thousands of people from all over the country have paid tribute to the young woman on social media.
Fr Liam Enright, who was accompanied by Fr Derek Leonard, Fr Wille Russell and Fr Maurice Costelloe, at Ms O’Rourke’s funeral service, said the young mother’s death has “touched the lives of all communities”.
“It is an unspeakable tragedy,” he told the . “I’ve known Marguerita since she was a young girl. She comes from a lovely family and she and her husband Denis were like Romeo and Juliet.
“I am not a parent, but I’m an uncle and godfather and I can see her death has really touched hundreds of people.
“That outpouring of emotion is there, we can all see it when you look at the hundreds of messages of condolences to the family on RIP.ie, that simply speaks for itself.
“This is a human reaction to an unspeakable tragedy. They don’t know this girl, they don’t know who she is, but they can see her in their own family, in their own daughter, or sister or niece or grandchild.
“There is so much emotion and love for Marguerita and her family. She has put a face on that emotion and that feeling for all of us. We all feel it.”
The community of Rathkeale rallied together to prepare the young woman’s funeral service which saw the church decorated both inside and out — with a large screen projecting images of the young mother.
Flower arrangements featuring lilac roses were placed at the edge of the pews.
Fr Enright said her community “loved her” and that the messages of love and support from around the country have brought some comfort to her heartbroken family.
“That loss is so heartbreaking, but the love people have for her is there for us all to see” he continued.
“It does mean a lot to her family that people have been so touched by Marguerita’s passing.
“On RIP, there’s messages from a Louth mother, a Kerry mother, a Cork mother, there’s hundreds and hundreds of messages of love and support.
“That gives me great hope because, at the end of the day, we might live in different communities and different parts of the country, and come from different backgrounds, she is from the Traveller community, and others are settled with different cultures, but we all one at the end of the day.
“This is a young Traveller girl, only recently married to the love of her life, and they had their first baby exactly four weeks before her funeral. It is unspeakable.
“I just feel there is a lot to be said by the love and support that has been shown for this beautiful young girl who died, and it does really give me hope.”
