In a heart-rending ceremony, Deirdre Crowley, the six-year-old Cork girl who was shot dead by her father in Clonmel last Thursday, was laid to rest alongside her maternal grandfather, Eugene, at Kiskeam cemetery yesterday.
Prior to the burial, more than a thousand people gathered at the Church of St Patrick in nearby Ballydesmond, where the white coffin bearing Deirdre's remains had been placed before the main altar. On the coffin were placed a pair of black patent leather shoes, Deirdre's favourite Barbie doll, her photograph and a candle.
Throughout the ecumenical service, Deirdre's mother, Ms Christine O'Sullivan, was comforted by her four sisters, Therese, Mary, Kathleen and Noreen.
The service was led by the parish priest of Ballydesmond, Father Seamus Kenneally; Father Michael O'Regan, a former chaplain at the Cork Institute of Technology, where Ms O'Sullivan is a computer technician; and Pastor Terry Price of the Baptist community in Cork. Ms O'Sullivan is a member of that community.
At the readings, Ms O'Sullivan said she trusted in God and believed that he had taken her little Deirdre home. "I've prayed that Deirdre would be returned to me and brought home safely. I've prayed to God for her protection and that she would be happy. I trust in God and God knows where she is and what's going on in her life now. God answered my prayers and brought her safely home, not to my home but to his. I am not despairing because I trust in God and I have great hope. I know I will see her again.".
Father O'Regan said no words could express the devastation which everyone felt at the loss of Deirdre. The family of Mr Chris Crowley, Deirdre's father, who also died in Clonmel, had sent a message to say how keenly they felt the loss of Deirdre and how they wanted to sympathise with her mother, Christine. "Little Deirdre and Christine will forever be in our thoughts," the message read.
Father Regan said news of the tragic deaths in Clonmel had deeply touched a great many people. In facing the "hard struggle ahead, Christine and her family would have the comfort of knowing that Deirdre was an angel in heaven".
Father Regan read from St Mark's Gospel in which Jesus is described as blessing the little children and welcoming them.
Pastor Price said he had been privileged to be close to Ms O'Sullivan and her family during the past few days and to hear them reminiscing about Deirdre. In his brief acquaintance with the young girl, he added, what had struck him most about her was her beautiful eyes. Although her life had been terribly short, her mother and family could rely on the fact that God would protect Deirdre and look after them.
As the hearse left St Patrick's for the cemetery, dozens of wreaths from all over the country were laid alongside the coffin. The funeral of Mr Crowley will take place in Cork in a private ceremony today.