A joint funeral service will take place tomorrow morning for the two boys who drowned in Newry, Co Down on Friday evening.
Mourners will crowd into Cloghoghue chapel to remember two-year-old David Smith and four-year-old Shea Laverty, who lost their lives in a disused swimming pool despite frantic efforts to save them.
The boys are believed to have crawled through a gap in the fence into the grounds of the large house close to their homes in Ardaveen Mews.
It emerged yesterday that David's father Brian gave the youngsters mouth-to-mouth after dragging them out of the pool. A paramedic gave him instructions over the phone on how to perform the procedure as an ambulance rushed to the scene.
Staff at Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry worked for two hours to revive the two boys but were unable to save them.
Shea was due to celebrate his fifth birthday next week. His younger brother was with them at the time of the tragedy but escaped unhurt and is being comforted by family members.
Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances of their deaths and liaison officers have been appointed to both families to help them deal with the tragedy.
Father Richard Naughton, who will conduct Requiem Mass, spoke to the president in Dublin yesterday about the tragedy.
"President McAleese said she felt intensely sad for the parents of those two little boys. She is having a mass in Aras an Uachtarain and they will be praying for the families," he said.
The priest added: "The death of a child is the fear that every parent has. Everyone is aware it can happen and they can identify with these parents."
David will be buried in the cemetery adjoining the chapel, while Shea will be buried in a family plot in Coalisland, Co Tyrone. Family and friends have been providing support to the distraught parents of the boys who lived just three doors apart.