Ireland

Older teen killed in Co Mayo crash remembered as ‘whirlwind of joy’

Funeral of Harry Fagan (19) takes place in Cloonfad where tributes are also paid to fellow crash victim James Daniels (13)

Harry Fagan (left) and James Daniels were killed in the collision on the N83 outside Cloonfad. Photographs: Conor McKeown/rip.ie
Harry Fagan (left) and James Daniels were killed in the collision on the N83 outside Cloonfad. Photographs: Conor McKeown/rip.ie
Tom Shiel
Wed Oct 02 2024 - 15:41

Harry Fagan, one of two teenagers who died in a road traffic collision near his home in Cloonfad on the Mayo/Roscommon border on Friday evening last, was recalled at his funeral on Wednesday as “a whirlwind of mischief, love and pure joy”.

Three of the 19-year-old plasterer’s siblings, Gerard, Shane, and Daniel, remembered their departed brother in separate eulogies at the end of the funeral Mass in Cloonfad.

“Harry lived life his own way. He was the daftest, wildest, most stubborn brother but also the most fiercely loved. There wasn’t a moment when Harry wasn’t making us smile or shaking our heads in disbelief at his antics,” one brother recalled.

James Daniels (13), who also died in Friday’s tragedy and whose funeral Mass was celebrated on Tuesday, was also remembered by the Fagan brothers in their eulogies.

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“James wasn’t a friend, he was family to us”, one of the speakers said. “We loved him like he was one of our own”.

Mourners in a packed St Patrick’s Church were told that Harry threw himself passionately into everything he did from farming in his younger days to plastering in recent times.

But beyond the cars, beyond the hard work, what really defined Harry was his love for his family and his girlfriend, Kate, the speakers highlighted.

Fr Stephen Farragher was the main celebrant of the funeral Mass, assisted by Fr Joe Feeney, Fr John Collins and Fr Ray Flaherty.

Fr Feeney said the family and community was suffering the loss of a young man who everyone loved, knew what hard work was and always had many friends around him.

Symbols of Harry’s life brought to the altar included a family photo, car keys, representing his passion for selling cars, a builders’ hawk and trowel representing his love of plastering and a copper band and chain gifted him by his father.

Chief mourners at the funeral were Harry’s parents Ger and Trish; brothers, Gerard, Shane and Daniel; his girlfriend Kate; and grandparents, Kathleen, Tom and Marion.