A woman killed in a road crash in Co Limerick last week has been remembered as a “brilliant” nurse who spent her life putting others before herself.
Áine O’Reilly, from Pallasgreen, was described during her funeral Mass as a “warm” and “independent” person who loved comedy, current affairs and animals.
A large crowd gathered on Wednesday morning at St John the Baptist Church in Nicker, including some of Áine O’Reilly’s former nursing colleagues, who had travelled from London to attend.
A guard of honour of people in high-visibility vests from ShannonDoc, Áine O’Reilly’s employer, was formed outside the church.
The 33-year-old was fatally injured last Friday night when she was involved in a three-car collision as she drove to work in Limerick city. The crash, which happened on the N24 near Grange West, Boher, left another motorist injured. A third person fled the scene.
Parish priest Fr Tómas O’Connell said Áine O’Reilly’s family had been dealt an “unbelievable blow”, with a young woman taken “in such a heartbreaking way”.
In his eulogy, Eoin O’Reilly described his sister as a “warm” person who carried herself with “elegance and poise”. She loved music, current affairs, cooking and travel, and to laugh, he said.
“Beneath all that, there was a strength and a resilience which I could never truly understand.”
Mourners gathered at St John the Baptist Church in Nicker, Co Limerick on Wednesday for the funeral Mass of Áine O’Reilly. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire
He said his sister had an “incredible caring nature” and was “a brilliant nurse” who also “adored” animals.
“Generations of family pets in our house will never know how good they had it,” he added.
He thanked people who had reached out to their family, prayed for them or expressed their condolences in recent days – and said his “little sister” would always be with them.
“One crumb of comfort I have is that in her last moments with us on this earth, before the lights went out, she was in her car, listening to her music – singing along, of course – going to a job she was [meant to do], looking forward to the next new exciting chapter. Independent, free and happy,” he said.
“Sleep well, little sister.”
The priest said the community had gathered in prayer, grief and shock to be with the O’Reilly family.
“Áine, indeed, was a person who gave. She gave to her family, gave to her community, her work colleagues,” he said.
Áine O’Reilly’s coffin is carried into St John the Baptist Church in Nicker, Co Limerick on Wednesday. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire
“Her life was one of putting herself [after] others, and it is so tragic that in the twinkling of an eye, that life of giving was taken from her so tragically last Friday.”
He said that as the community heard the news, “nothing else was spoken about in the whole place”.
“There was a palpable silence here, as the huge cloud of gloom – is all I would call it – had well and truly settled over this area, if not indeed the entire country.”
Áine O’Reilly is survived by her parents, Ann and Eugene, who lit a candle at the start of the Mass, and brothers Eoin, James and Conor. – PA