Daly, Aoife
January 01, 2013The weather contributed to a desolate feeling of cold and cruel loss as the coffin of teenage Piercestown girl Aoife Daly was brought to St. Martin's Church last Friday morning.
Rain fell on the tear-soaked faces of her friends and team mates from Loreto secondary school, St. Martin's GAA Club, Wexford Hockey Club and Wexford Wanderers Rugby Club who formed an emotional guard of honour as the coffin was carried shoulder high into the church.
Wind howled around the front porch where the large congregation spilled outside, mourners of all ages standing in the bleak December weather, listening to her funeral Mass on a loudspeaker. Her teachers and club mentors were among the several hundred people who attended the funeral Mass. On its sad journey from Kearney's funeral home in Wexford town, the cortege passed by houses with lighted Christmas trees in the windows . The festive background provided a cruel contrast to the dark grief of Aoife's family and friends following her death from a sudden illness on Christmas Eve.
Her coffin was received at the door of the church by Piercestown parish priest Fr. John O'Reilly; Loreto school chaplain Fr. Jim Fegan, and Murrintown parish priest Fr. Jimmy Moynihan. In his homily Fr. O'Reilly said Aoife's life tragically came to an end at the age of 16 when she had everything going for her. She was full of vitality and was blessed with grace, charm and beauty. She had hundreds of friends, a good home and loving parents.
'Today our hearts are broken and our spirits crushed with the suddenness of it all,' he said. Fr. O'Reilly said the question on everyone's lips was "why, why, why'.
'I'm afraid there is no answer. It's one of the great mysteries of life.'
'All we can do today is gather in sadness and give each other whatever support we can.'
He said it is through support that we make light out of the darkness. The parish priest told mourners that Aoife was a powerful influence on those around her and today was a day for remembering
her gifts and talents which she used in school and on the playing field. It was a time to give thanks for her life and the great joy she shared with her family and friends.
A framed collage of photographs of Aoife with her friends stood on the altar as a reminder of those good times. The Transition Year student recently attended the T.Y. Ball and was looking forward to going to Germany on a student exchange in 2013. Her older sisters Ciara and Orlagh read a poem called Three Sisters by Francis I. Gillespie.
They cried as they recited the words: We are three sisters; Three sisters are we; I love each of you; And I know you love me.' We're not always together; Life sometimes keeps us apart; But we're never separated; We're in each other's hearts.'
Following the funeral Mass, cremation took place in Mount Jerome Crematorium in Dublin on Friday afternoon.
Courtesy of The Wexford People. Tweet
