Tiggy Hancock (15), who died following an accident during a training session at an equestrian centre, was a “remarkable young woman” whose future was “full of dazzling promise,” her funeral service has heard.
She was remembered by her older sister Lucy as a “fiercely loyal” person with “a strong moral compass”.
The talented event rider from Bagenalstown, Co Carlow, was “beautiful from her core” and had “an infectious sense of humour”, Lucy said.
“She was just this tiny, perfect person” and was, at just 15-years-old, “equipped with wisdom that usually comes with age”.
Her funeral took place at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Lorum on Monday afternoon. It was attended by her parents, Frank and Jane, her two sisters, several other family members and friends from Ireland and the UK. Almost 4,000 people watched the live stream of the service online.
Members of local pony and horse riding clubs led the funeral cortege from her home to the church.
The teenager had many equestrian achievements, including a bronze medal from the European Championships in Poland when she was just 13 years old, and other successes in the Irish and British pony societies.
Her sister, Eliza, described Tiggy as a “funny, whacky little sister” who “could always be counted on for a Christmas day sea swim.”
“I’ll continue to see Tiggy in every golden flower, soaring bird and buzzing bee, and I’ll feel her in the warmth of the sun on my face,” she said.
She was “one of those people who just by entering the room would lift your spirits”, a close family friend said in his eulogy.
She was “becoming one of the foremost riders of her generation” and had “a gradual, accumulating sack full of sashes and rosettes”.
There was “no doubt” the world would have seen her at a future Olympics, he said.
What was most striking about Tiggy was not her equestrian achievements, but her “kind, generous, and loving” personality. The teenager loved to make “a multitude of TikTok videos” and had “a somewhat bizarre interest in Formula One”.
“Given her character, Tiggy could have achieved anything she set her mind to,” her funeral service heard.