Red ribbons dotted the trees and lamp-posts of St Helena’s Drive in Finglas, Dublin, on Friday morning, steering a path towards St Oliver Plunkett’s Church and the funeral of 16-year-old Grace Lynch.
There, hundreds of mourners gathered. Classmates from St Michael’s secondary school flanked the entryway to the church in a guard of honour. Red ribbons were pinned to their uniforms in memory of Grace’s favourite colour.
Last Sunday, on the other side of Tolka Valley Park, Grace was hit by a scrambler on a pedestrian crossing on the Ratoath Road. She died in hospital that evening.
Her mother, Siobhán Lynch, thanked the congregation for the support she and her family have received. “Grace was loved by so many people, and she loved so many people back,” she said.
Grace’s family, including her father, Martin and mother Siobhán, stand behind the hearse after the funeral Mass. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins
“She had a way about her that would make you feel happy just to be around her,” said Ms Lynch. “She was always laughing at nothing. She was only starting her life. And she was so in love with her boyfriend Harry.”
“If you were blessed to have known Grace, you would have known how funny, bubbly and kind she was,” Ms Lynch said.
Alongside her mother, Grace is survived by her father Martin, sisters Shauna and Brooke, and her brother Jude.
“We will miss you forever and we love you forever. You’re in the arms of the angels now, Grace, and life will never be the same. I love you baby.”
Fr Seamus Aherne described walking by the Tolka river early on Friday morning, several hours before the service. There, he met a woman on her way to work in the Mater hospital, who spoke of the “suffocation of grief everywhere” after Sunday’s events.
“The accident was horrendous,” Fr Aherne said. “The lives of all here have been deeply affected. It’s like a volcano.”
He said Grace’s loss has shattered her family. Clarifying his feelings as “general” and “not specific”, Fr Aherne said, “those motorbikes racing around our community are dangerous”.
“Accidents are waiting to happen and will happen. Those mad youngsters, full of bravado and daredevil behaviour, screaming around and weaving through traffic, will kill and be killed.
“Those driving around on e-scooters at present, in black clothes without lights and no hi-vis jackets, will kill and will be killed.”
The priest said Grace’s grandmother Dolores saw her as beautiful, and always having time for everyone. She was never condemning, and believed everyone had good in them, he added.
The funeral cortege arrives at St Oliver Plunkett’s Church in Rivermount, Dublin, on Friday. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
Gifts were offered in the form of a St Michael’s school jumper, a jewellery case and a self-portrait. Earlier in the day, the funeral cortège had stopped outside St Michael’s to release balloons into the sky.
Grace was an avid artist, and Fr Aherne told the funeral of some of her favourite bands: Oasis, The Carpenters and The Cranberries among them. During the service, the folk ballad Grace, and the hymn Amazing Grace, were sung.
As the mass drew to a close and Grace’s coffin was carried from the church, Oasis’s Live Forever played out on the speakers.
The funeral was attended by members of Dublin Fire Brigade and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald. Teenage students from other schools were also present, with boys wearing red ties in lieu of the ribbons.
In the wake of Grace’s death, Taoiseach Micheál Martin pledged to remove scramblers from public roads.
A man (18) appeared in court on Tuesday charged with dangerous driving causing Grace’s death. The case was adjourned until May 1st.