TWO HEARTBROKEN FAMILIES were united in grief today as the funerals of two teenage friends killed in a car crash took place in Co Donegal.
Alana Harkin and Thomas Gallagher, both just 18, had been part of a group returning from working at Simpson’s Bar and Restaurant in Carndonagh in the early hours of Monday morning last.
But what should have been a routine journey home ended in tragedy when the car in which they were traveling left the road and ploughed into a wooded area at Terrawee, Gleneely around 12.30am.
Both Alana and Thomas were killed while another friend, a young man in his late teens, was rushed to hospital and treated for non life-threatening injuries.
The outpouring of grief building up to today’s funerals has been palpable on the Inishowen Peninsula, which has sadly become accustomed to such road tragedies.
Many in these close-knit villages and small towns knew both Alana and Thomas with many attended both funerals which took place at separate times.
The first funeral was that of Alana, whose funeral mass took place at St Mary’s Church in Bocan, Culdaff.
Hundreds of mourners lined both sides of the road outside of the church for up to an hour before the funeral.
When Alana’s funeral cortege did arrive, her hearse was covered in floral tributes, including one which simply read ‘daughter.’
Alana’s coffin arrived into the church to the sounds of Amazing Grace.
In his Homily, Fr James McGonagle said that Alana, in her short 18 years on earth, certainly made her mark.
“If we could see Alana’s life not as a life interrupted but rather as a life completed it might help us to gain strength for the future, because we all do have a future, there is still a life to be lived,” he told the congregation.
The best word to describe Alana, Fr McGonagle said, was “magnetism”.
“Everyone was drawn towards her, young and old,” he said.
“She has been blessed with so many loving and faithful friends, in the community, at school and her workplace at Simpsons.
“She was a live wire, a pocket dynamo, a ball of fire, a prankster.
“She was also a beautiful singer, and had the role of Gretl in the school production of Sound of Music. She was a good actor, you didn’t know if she was acting the clown or being serious.”
Fr McGonagle said that Alana touched his life from almost the day she was born.
“From the day I blessed her in Altnagelvin, as she fought for her new life, having been premature at 6 months. Then I baptised her, I heard her first Confession, I gave her first Holy Communion and then she was one of our altar servers in this church. After I retired I hadn’t seen her for a few years until one day, I was at a funeral dinner in Simpsons and this lassie landed in my arms, as lively as ever.”
On her tragic passing, Fr McGonagle said that the death of a loved one, especially the accidental death of an 18 year girl, is very hard to take.
“Especially when that young person had a world at her feet with all kinds of dreams and hope for the future,” he said.
He acknowledged the mixture of emotions that swamp the grieving community following Monday’s tragedy.
“We can only guess that the turmoil going on in the minds of Karen Patrick, Collum, Shauna and Shay, her close family and friends and classmates.
“Our very presence here today and the numbers that turned up for her homecoming and at the wake is an assurance to you that you are not on your own
Speaking to her parents and siblings, he said: “We are all with you, not just today, but also in the days ahead. There will be dark days. The most important source of comfort for us is our faith.”
The congregation also prayed for Alana and Thomas’ friend Patrick, who survived the collision and is believed to be making good progress in his recovery.
Fr McGongle, on behalf of the bereaved families, issued a word of thanks to all who came on the scene of the tragic crash on Monday morning, especially the gardaí, the fire brigade and the undertakers who did professional work, under very trying circumstances, with great sensitivity and respect.
He also thanked the four locals, Dorothy, Brian, Yvonne and Helen who opened their hearts and their homes to the families of Alana and Thomas at the scene.
Sister Shauna, in her prayer of the faithful, said that the family will miss Alana beyond words.
“My daughter Anna also loved her so much but I will make sure her memory is kept alive in my little family forever.”
The offertory gifts represented Alana’s great love of music, dance, poetry and her family and friends.
A guitar, vinyl record and a Tumbling Paddies t-shirt represented her passion for music. A pair of cowboy boots were brought up as a celebration of her newfound love of line dancing.
Her love of popstar Harry Styles was represented in the form of a One Direction pillow. A poetry book from her favourite English teacher at Carndonagh Community School, Grace Crossan, was also brought to the altar.
Alana’s workplace featured prominently in her life and was represented in the gift of her uniform from Simpsons, while her manager Liam Farren brought forward a priceless photo of himself and Alana, who dressed up as Liam for Halloween just one week ago.
After her funeral mass Alana was laid to rest in the adjoining cemetery.
Many mourners then made their way across the peninsula on the 18 kilometre journey to St Mary’s Church in Ballybrack, Moville to pay their final respects to Thomas.
Along the way they passed by the very place where the friends perished at Gleneely on Monday morning last, a row of flowers marking the tragic spot.
Once again hundreds of mourners including pupils from Moville Community College lined the route to Thomas’ final resting place at St Mary’s Church at Church Lane, Moville.
The sky, filled heavy with rain, let loose as a horse drawn carriage brought Thomas to the church.
Inside, the mourners were led by Thomas’ mother Helen, his dad Dominick, brothers Roán, Dominick, Emmet and his sister Emily.
Fr Eddie Gallagher told mourners that Helen and Dominick wanted Thomas’ funeral to be a celebration of his life.
He said “Our gathering in tragic circumstances reminds us of the preciousness of human life and how things can change so drastically for us in the blink of an eye.
“In the first hour of Monday, life changed and will never be the same for Thomas and Alana’s families.”
Fr Gallagher said that everyone at the funeral mass wanted to remember Thomas at his best.
Fr Gallagher added “He packed a lot into 18 years of life. He was looking after everyone else from the moment he was born. He was protective of you all. When he was told he was having a baby sister, he literally jumped for joy. He was so happy that his family felt so complete and he happily walked Emily around the estate in a pram.
“Thomas understood how important it is to life each day as a new gift from God.”
Among the gifts and symbols of Thomas’ life were his Versace aftershave, his Ellesse coat, a frying pan and eggs, his working boots and clothing, a framed picture from his formal, a badge from vintage tractor and a horse-riding cap.
Also among the gifts were a hand-carved wooden heart with pictures of Thomas and Aoife, his girlfriend of 18 months.
Fr Gallagher recalled the young couple’s love of each other ,and of music and how they attended so many concerts at Belsonic together, including Picture This, Liam Gallagher and Iron Maiden.
Turning his attention to Thomas’ friends or the ‘boyos’, Fr Gallagher said the friends were like a ‘Band of Brothers.’
He said Thomas always kept an eye out for his friends, and looked after them.
As well as his football and hurling, his love of horses brought out the best in him and all the young people he helped at Cooley Equestrian Centre in Moville.
Fr Gallagher turned his attention to Thomas’ mother Helen. She was an art teacher at Moville Community College, the school her son attended.
Fr Gallagher said her son wasn’t embarrassed despite his mother’s position in the school.
He added that all the other teachers also had a very good word to say about the young man.
He loved nothing more than bringing his young brothers down to Culdaff Pier and unlike other brothers he didn’t want to push them off it, the priest said.
Family and friends were everything to Thomas but as the oldest child, his young life was made complete at ten years old when his only sister Emily was born.
Fr Gallagher said Thomas literally jumped for joy when Emily was born and had no problem pushing her around in her pram.
A poem chosen by Thomas’s heartbroken father Dominick and read by a friend moved mourners to tears, while a closing song from Thomas’s classmates at Moville Community College was met with a round of applause.
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