College friends, lecturers bid final farewell to crash victim
Friday November 20 2009
A SHOCKED university community left their lecture halls yesterday to say a last goodbye to the young victim of a road crash that claimed four lives.
The remains of Sorcha Rose McLoughlin (19) were taken to the chapel at NUI Galway at lunchtime in a poignant gesture by her family.
Sorcha was a second-year BA student at the Galway university and had established close friendships with the three other girls who also lost their lives on Tuesday night.
Friends and lecturers filed in for the service at the university chapel, where they prayed for Sorcha and the other victims.
The university has been left numb by the realisation that four popular members of the student body are gone forever, while one fights for life.
Friends Teresa Molloy (19), Marie Conneely (19) and Sarah Byrne (20), who were all third-year BA students, also died after the head-on collision with a truck near the Galway-Mayo border.
And third-year BA student Michelle O'Donnell (21) from Kilronan, Aran, was continuing to fight for her life at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin last night.
The four youngsters who died in the crash will be laid to rest over the weekend, and the remains of Sorcha began the long journey home to Mulgannon in Co Wexford yesterday in preparation for her funeral.
Memory
Meanwhile, her friends were preparing for a fashion show organised by Rotaract, the Rotary Club for young adults. Sorcha would normally have been enjoying the clothes on show, as a committed member of the club, but instead the event was dedicated to her memory.
Rotaract president Ciara Brady said: "I shared accommodation with Sorcha last year and knew the others through her. Words cannot express how I feel. As Sorcha was a member of our society, we are all deeply shocked at her death and we immediately felt we should dedicate tonight's show to them."
Four close-knit communities were last night rallying around the bereaved families ahead of the funerals.
Sorcha's remains will repose at her home today before being taken to the Church of the Annunciation in Clonard tomorrow for a memorial Mass at 10am.
Her family, originally from Co Mayo, will then travel with her back to the West of Ireland and the remains will arrive at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Dereens, Achill, at 7.30pm.
Burial will take place on Sunday after funeral Mass at 12 noon.
Teresa Molloy (19) will also be laid to rest on Sunday. She will be buried just a stone's throw from her home in Leitir Mor following her funeral Mass at midday.
Marie Conneely (19), from Baile na hAbhann, Connemara, will be buried tomorrow, following noon Mass in Rossaveal.
The remains of Sarah Byrne (20) will be removed from her home in Cordarra, Co Galway, to St Mary's Church tomorrow. Burial will take place in Cloughanover cemetery following Mass at 1pm.
- Conor Kane
Irish Independent
