The funeral has taken place of Róisín Connolly, the pregnant woman killed in a car crash in Co Monaghan earlier this week. Her unborn daughter, Catherine, also died.
Ms Connolly (39), a teacher at Educate Together school in Balbriggan, Co Dublin, was killed in a multi-vehicle crash on the Dublin-Derry N2 at Nurebeg outside Carrickmacross on Monday.
Glenn Curtiss (27), Dunroe, Nobber, Co Meath, and Paul Carroll (27), Dunheeda, Co Meath, who were in a BMW car involved in the crash, died at the scene. Two other men in that car were injured.
Hundreds packed the white refurbished church of St Mary in Fanavolty near the ocean's edge in the Donegal gaeltacht for the Requiem Mass.
Fr Pat McGarvey offered the Mass with four concelebrants, Fr James Friel Parish Priest of Clondavaddog; Fr Danny Gibbons SPS; Fr Michael Sweeney from Milford; and Fr Damien McGroarty from Letterkenny, a cousin of the deceased.
The little village was thronged when the cortege arrived on a still and silent afternoon. Mourners were led by Stephen Conolly, Róisín's widower, who was injured in the collision which took the life of the woman he had married at the same church just eight months earlier.
Many more, including friends and family from England and Balbriggan, Co Dublin where Róisín worked, had followed the coffin from the nearby home of her mother Kathleen.
The Taoiseach was represented by his aide de camp Commandant Michael Treacy and a message of sympathy was sent by President Mary McAleese.
The coffin was brought into the small church to the strains of two tin whistles playing Róisín Dubh.
Mr Connolly was helped to the lectern where he gave the first reading, from Sirach, despite his injuries. "A faithful wife is a safe shelter," he read. "Whoever finds one has a rare treasure, A loving partner is something beyond price, there is no measuring their worth."
The second reading was taken from St Paul's first letter to the Corinthians and included the line "Love does not come to an end."
In his homily, which was laced with personal recollections, gentle humour and genuine grief, Fr McGarvey spoke of the sense of shock that had spread through the local community on hearing news of the tragedy.
"Words are hard to find to express to Stephen, to Kathleen and to the many friends and family the reason for what has happened," he said. "Róisín was always thinking of others. Caring and looking out for others. Róisín was a beautiful spirit."
He spoke of the sense of anticipation that the couple had for their expected child, a daughter whom they had named Catherine.
"There was a joy, a pride, a hope and a dream for that baby, for Stephen and for herself. You could see how perfect it all was for her. She had found a man whom she loved and adored and a man who loved and adored her even more. She was the happiest woman on earth."
He referred to many photographs adorning the altar of the couple's wedding last April and to Róisín's smile, which many found infectious. He said her life was one of faith and of dedication to her husband and to her mother.
The Lord's Prayer and the Hail Mary were offered in both Irish and English and a succession of friends and relatives offered the Prayers of the Faithful. Some were overcome and were unable to finish.
In addition to the Eucharistic gifts, mourners also brought to the altar symbols of Róisín's life. These included the sash she wore as the Manchester contestant in the Mary of Dungloe competition, some of her make-up, a shirt from her local GAA club and a book containing children's project work from the Balbriggan school where she worked.
After the Requiem Mass, six pall bearers took the coffin to the adjoining cemetery where the deceased were laid beside Roisin's late father Vincent.
Mr Carroll was buried today at the Church of the Immaculate Conception near his home in Kingscourt, Co Meath. Mr Curtiss was buried yesterday after funeral Mass at St John the Baptist Church in Nobber.