The symbols of a teenager’s life, a mobile phone “because he was never off it”, a trophy for player of the year “because he was simply the best”, and a hairbrush “because he adored his hair”, were brought to the alter at the funeral of Cillian “Cillo” Flaherty in Dublin on Saturday.
The life of the 15-year-old, who had been due to appear as a contestant on the television series Ireland’s Fittest Family, was also symbolised by a number 6 football jersey and a family photograph.
Officiating priest Fr Justin Purba, who commented on each of the symbols as they were brought to the altar in the Church of St Philip the Apostle in Clonsilla, said the jersey represented the teen’s dedication to community sport, while the photograph represented “Cillo’s love of his family”.
Many of the mourners wore bright colours, including blue ribbons in their hair, while the coffin was painted in sky blue and signed with messages from friends and family.
In an emotional tribute Cillian’s older brother, Kian, said: “I love you more than everything in the world.”
“We were the best of friends,” he told the capacity congregation. “No matter how many fights we had, we just forgot about them and got on with life 10 minutes later.”
“I’m going to miss coming home from work to you and finding out what the POA is. For anyone who doesn’t know, the POA is the plan of action.” Addressing Cillian directly he said: “All you used to say is, ‘I just go with the flow bro’.
“You were the kindest soul with the biggest heart.”
He also described Cillian’s many watches and clothes and thanked the many people from the church and school community who had called to console the Flaherty family over the past week. Speaking directly to Cillian again he said: “The impact you have had on the community is overwhelming and unbelievable”.
“I’ve never seen a group of friends so big and so caring in my life.
“You were adamant you were going to be rich and famous before me and you got the famous part. You were all over the news. You were all over every paper in the world. Your favourite rappers gave you a shout out.”
The principal mourners at the funeral were Cillian’s mother Paula and father Paul, his brother Kian and sister Heidi, as well as his girlfriend Katie.
Paul Flaherty told the funeral it had been his wife Paula’s decision to have a brighter-coloured coffin than usual and to ask people to write messages on it. He also thanked the producers of Ireland’s Fittest family for suspending the broadcast of the competition.
He paid tribute to the production staff who he said had “all came out to the house in the last couple of days”. He said Cillian had been looking forward to sitting down to watch the programme, predicting that autograph hunters would be “lining up outside”. He said the family and the community would watch the episode “in six months or whenever” it was eventually screened.
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