Last week' s funeral of local girl, Enid O'Loughlin was one of the biggest ever seen in the town in modern times. Thousands of people queued for eight hours to sympathise with her family at 70, Corrovorrin Grove on the night of Wednesday, April 23. There was standing room only in Ennis Cathedral on Thursday, when her remains were brought there for the funeral mass. They were many poignant scenes, when school friends, camogie team colleagues, people of her own age group and work colleagues came to say their last farewells to a very popular teenager. Mass chief celebrant, Fr Gerry Carey, St Joseph's extended the sympathy of the community to the O'Loughlin family on the tragic loss of their 19-year-old daughter, who died at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Ennis on Monday, April 21, after a very short illness. Also con-celebrating the mass were Fr Tom Hogan, administrator, Fr Michael O'Loughlin, Fr Michael McNamara, Barefield, Fr Tom O' Gorman, Fr John Molloy, Canon Patrick Taaffe and Fr Martin Blake. The attendance at the mass included pupils from Ennis CBS and Rice College, where Enid was a pupil and Central College, Limerick, where she also studied sports and recreation. Soloists at the mass were Siobhan Flaherty and Clare Griffin. The Rice College Choir also performed, as did the Ennis Gospel Choir. Traditional music was also played and John O'Loughlin paid a moving tribute to his late sister. Gifts brought to the altar included a hurley from her father, Eamon, a sliothar and helmet and jerseys representing the Clare and Doora-Barefield Camogie Club, whom she played with. A plate and receipt book represented her work as a waitress in the dining room of Brogan's, Ennis. Guards of honour were provided by camogie players from Clare and Doora-Barefield, as well as her school pals and many friends. And as the funeral made its way to Drumcliffe Cemetery, it diverted by the New Road, where all the students of Ennis CBS and Rice College, where Enid's brother Mikie is a pupil, school teachers and the school camogie team formed another impressive guard of honour. Local gardai provided an escort to the church and Drumcliffe, where friends of the late Enid paid their final tribute, with another guard of honour. After the prayers at the graveside, a slow air was played by musician, Christy McNamara from Crusheen. The sudden death of Enid at such an early age came as a great shock to the local community. Prior to her death, many people visited the hospital to comfort the O'Loughlin family and among them were the Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh and Clare hurlers, David Fitzgerald, Brian Lohan, Fergal Hegarty, Fergie Tuohy and Colin Lynch. Fr Gerry Carey celebrated a mass of hope the night before she died in Danlann an Chlair and it was attended by a huge number of people from Ennis and surrounding parishes. Enid will be remembered by her family and friends as a very quiet, likeable person with a great personality. As a talented camogie player, she won an U-14 title in 2001 and an U-18 title in 2005 with Doora-Barefield. She was also honoured on the Clare camogie panel, which won the Munster championship in 2004. In recent years, she was voted camogie player of the year at Rice College. She will be fondly remembered by her father, Eamon, mother Ruth, brothers, John and Mikie, grandmother, Mary O'Donoghue, uncles, Paddy, Peadar, Dermot, Joe, John and Anthony, aunt, Lourdes O'Donoghue, cousins and a huge circle of friends. May she rest in peace. Courtesy of the Clare Champion 2 May 2008 Tweet

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