Tory (17) 'taken from us on night of enjoyment' - mourners told at funeral of schoolgirl who died after night at club
A simple white coffin, covered in pink and purple roses.
Tory Johnston, who died outside a nightclub in Donegal on Wednesday, was remembered as a beautiful young girl whose life was taken on a night of fun.
The 17-year-old collapsed after apparently suffering a seizure at 6.30am on Wednesday last in Letterkenny.
She was in great spirits on the night she left her home in Grieve, Glebe, for the last time on Tuesday evening.
Tory was entering her final year of school and had been selected as a prefect to represent her classmates, her funeral was told.
School friends from Loreto Secondary School provided a guard of honour yesterday as her coffin was led out of St Eunan's Cathedral.
Tory's heartbroken mother Helen and only sister Amy wore purple ribbons in her memory, while her dad Sammy proudly wore a purple tie.
Fr Eamon Kelly said Tory's life had been captured in a series of photographs.
"Life's bitterness struck on a night of enjoyment, on a night out with friends," he told the congregation.
"The harshness of life was struck into our people as, sadly, Tory's young life was cut so short. With fashion and outfits, trends and styles, Tory was full of life and splendour and goodness, full of the vigour of youth, the holding of beauty, packed to overflowing with kindness, goodness, warmth and loveliness."
Fr Kelly added that Tory was considering a career in fashion or dentistry and recently received a letter to say that she would be a prefect this year.
He than pleaded with the congregation to "enrich her memory" by living their life to the full potential.
A friend who had written a special tribute to Tory, broke down half-way through and could not continue.
Among the gifts brought to the altar was a recent picture of the beautiful teen.
Tory's heartbroken friends and family accompanied the hearse to her final resting place at Conwal Graveyard.