A strong swimmer who loved the water was buried yesterday in Limerick. Moyross parish priest, Father John O'Shea, told a packed church: "Water proved once again to be man's best friend and worst enemy."
He was speaking at the Requiem Mass for 16-year-old Victor O'Connor of Ballygrennan Close, a Junior Cert exam student at Limerick CBS who drowned last Thursday evening with a 16-year-old neighbour from Moyross, Lyndsey Kiely of Cosgrave Park. The pair drowned after Lyndsey slipped into the fast-flowing Ardnacrusha power station tailrace at Parteen and the schoolboy tried to rescue her.
Victor's body was found near Parteen bridge on Friday morning and the search is continuing for Lyndsey, who was a Junior Cert exam student at St Nessan's community school, Moylish.
Father O'Shea told the young people at the funeral: "Victor's death has left you bewildered, but he is sending you a clear message from beyond the grave. It is this: your young life is a gift from God."
The principal celebrant at Mass was Father Terry Loughran. Victor is survived by his father Philip, mother Nellie, brother Philip and sister Stacey. Burial took place to Mount St Oliver cemetery.
