‘A beloved daughter, sister, friend’: Hundreds gather at vigil for Bruna Fonseca

Anyone fortunate enough to have met Brazilian woman Bruna Fonseca could not help but love her as she radiated so much joy and happiness, mourners were told at a vigil in Cork on Sunday to remember the 28-year-old a week on from her death.

More than 300 people gathered at the Lough on the city’s southside to show solidarity and support for Ms Fonseca’s niece Maria Fonseca, cousin Marcela Fonseca and friend Julina Souza – who all wore T-shirts bearing Bruna’s smiling face and the word ‘Unforgettable’ in Portuguese.

Many in the attendance wore white, carried white roses and lit candles as requested by Ms Fonseca’s friends who had organised the vigil.

Marcela Fonseca explained that the Lough was one of Bruna’s favourite places on Leeside, somewhere she found great peace and solace when walking around the lake following her move to Cork from Formiga in Brazil. She moved last September to try to improve her English.

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The organisers placed a table by the lakeside, draped with the Brazilian flag, on which a vase of flowers was positioned between two photos of Bruna smiling.

Beneath one of the photos were the “Lembrancas enternizadas no coracao de quem te amal. Voce e inesquecivell”, the Portuguese for “Memories of you will live forever in the hearts of those who loved you. You are incredible”.

The vigil began when two members of Cork’s Brazilian community - Pedro Barroso and Gabriela Lobianco - explaining in Portuguese and English how Bruna’s friends and relatives woke up on New Year’s Day to the “shocking” news about Bruna having died violently.

“Bruna was a beloved 28-year-old librarian, who recently moved to Cork to study and work. Bruna was also a daughter, a sister, a friend, a hard worker and a dreamer who will be missed by everyone,” Ms Lobianco said.

Mr Barroso read a message from Bruna’s friend in Brazil, Maria Paula, in which she described their friendship.

“Bruna was like a sunny day in the rainy season. She was a loving and dedicated daughter and sister, a confidant, friend and a great companion, a committed and honest professional,” the message said.

“She would welcome you with open arms, her laugh contagious to whoever was around and if we can personify the word ‘resilience’, it would be her. There was nothing in the world that would make her give up, her dreams were just too big.

“Even when the sad nights come, the next morning she would be the person, standing ready to face life with joy. There is no one who has ever met Bruna in her journey that would not love her. The world was her home, and she would explore it for sure.

“An empathetic human being, who helped others in any way she could to make us feel calm and cared, her heart was as gorgeous as her physical beauty. No challenge was big enough to stop the focus she had and I’m sure she will live through us because she is unforgettable.

“Thank you for caring for our friend, thank you for accepting our pain, Thank you for all the support that is coming in many different ways. Nothing I write is enough to express how much Bruna means to us! She deserves all the love in the world – may she rest in peace now.”

Martina Stafford, of the ROSA campaign group, which helped to organise the vigil, called for an end to gender-based violence before Debora Garcia sang a Brazilian song, Linde Ceu and Andrea Carvelho led people in prayer ahead of a minute’s silence for Bruna.

The vigil was attended by public representatives including Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Deirdre Forde, Tánaiste Micheál Martin, Mick Barry TD, Donnachadh Ó Laoghaire TD, Senator Jerry Buttimer and councillors Mary Rose Desmond, Ted Tynan, Dan Boyle, Colette Finn and Damian Boylan.

Mr Martin extended his sympathy to Ms Fonseca’s family and friends and afterwards said it was heartbreaking to hear them talk about their loved one and the fact that she had died so far from home. He said the people of Cork had commendably rallied around to support them

“I think it’s very poignant this vigil is at one of the most iconic locations in Cork and that Bruna took this location, the Lough, to her heart, and this was the location for this remembrance and ceremony of solidarity with her family and friends says a lot and it’s great to see such great numbers here.

“It’s very traumatic and very sad for all concerned,” Mr Martin said, as he pledged that the Department of Foreign Affairs would assist in ensuring that Ms Fonseca’s remains were repatriated to Brazil so she can be buried in her hometown of Formiga without delay.

Cllr Forde said she believed the people of Cork had shown that they were kindness personified in the manner in which they responded to Ms Fonseca’s death, helping to raise more than €54,000 in a Go Fund Me appeal to help with the repatriation.

“And they have come out here today in numbers to show their solidarity at the loss of a beautiful soul and a beautiful girl in tragic circumstances – today is a day of remembering how happy she was here, and we are sending her home now with kindness and with goodwill from the people of Cork.”