Hundreds of mourners gathered at St Peter's Church in the south Co Wexford village of Ballymitty yesterday for the funerals of a young mother and her two children who died in a collision last Wednesday.
Jacinta Sinnott (24), her son Trevor (4) and daughter Tanya (19 months), from nearby Holdmanhill, Duncormick, were killed when their car collided with an articulated lorry at Larkin's Cross on the N25 Wexford to New Ross road.
The funeral ceremony was relayed via a public address system to large crowds gathered outside.
Before the Requiem Mass began, members of Ms Sinnott's family laid some playthings of the deceased children at the foot of the altar. They included a doll, a plastic toy dog and a radio-controlled car. Ms Sinnott's coffin was flanked by the two small, white coffins containing her children.
The chief mourners included Ms Sinnott's parents Michael and Josie, her elder brother Michael and younger sister Kaitlyn.
Justin Sinnott, Ms Sinnott's former partner and father of the children, was also present.
Local curate Fr Gerald O'Leary described Ms Sinnott as "a loving mother devoted to her children", and told the congregation that the Sinnott family was enduring "unbearable pain", having already lost Ms Sinnott's younger brother Gary (19) in a car accident five months ago.
Josie Sinnott had been celebrating her birthday last Wednesday "on a lovely October day" when she heard the tragic news of the deaths of her daughter and two grandchildren.
Fr O'Leary acknowledged it was difficult to find appropriate words of comfort on such an occasion and chose to read from first World War poet Laurence Binyon's For The Fallen. Prayers were said for the two occupants of the car who survived.
Ms Sinnott's daughter Chelsea (7) and front-seat passenger Lee Murphy (16) are both recovering in Wexford General Hospital.
Fr O'Leary said that Chelsea "who has wisdom beyond her years" and "knew she couldn't come to the funerals" had asked him to "tell everybody that Chelsea loves Mammy and Trevor and Tanya".
Fr O'Leary read messages of sympathy from the President Mary McAleese, Bishop Denis Brennan of Ferns and the Wexford Association in London.
As the coffins were borne to the graveyard, the choir sang Nearer My God, To Thee and teachers and pupils from St Joseph's National School formed a guard of honour. Chelsea is a pupil there and her late brother Trevor had just started in junior infants last month.
Outside the school gates, the purple-and-gold flag of Wexford flew at half-mast.