Air Corps cadet Tom O'Grady was set to receive his pilot wings next month, but yesterday he was buried at a quiet churchyard in Lismore, Co Waterford, just hours after the burial of a close friend who died alongside him in a car crash over the weekend.
Businesses in Lismore shut their doors for the day as a mark of respect to Mr O'Grady and his friend Robert Lineen, both 21, who died following a crash in the early hours of Saturday morning at Tallow Road in the town.
Officiating at Mr O'Grady's Requiem Mass at St Carthage church yesterday, Fr Gerry Carroll, chaplain at Baldonnel aerodrome, said life had "changed suddenly and changed utterly" for the young cadet's parents, Betty and Tom.
Fr Carroll said everyone in the town had been affected by the tragic loss of life, adding that the removal of the two young men's bodies to the church the night before had been deeply moving.
"Last night the silence on the streets of Lismore was stunning. Those of you who weren't here last night missed an experience. You [ Tom's parents] are not alone. You see death is not for one man alone. Everyone is touched and affected by the loss. If death is not for one man only, neither is your pain."
At the offertory procession, Mr O'Grady's godparents and a cousin brought symbols of his time in the Air Corps to the altar.
These included flight maps, a badge and, most poignantly, the first model aircraft the aspiring pilot made.
The Defence Forces were heavily represented at the Mass. A large Garda presence was also in the church as Tom's father, Tom snr, is a superintendent based in Tipperary.
Robert Lineen's funeral took place at the church yesterday morning. Parish priest Fr Kevin Mulcahy said family and friends of both men were "dazed and shocked". Mr Lineen, a farmer, was described as a credit to his mother Angela, sisters Annemarie and Claire, and his late father Willie.
Fr Mulcahy also commented on the fact that the men shared the same birthday. "They were both 21 years old. How strange it is that they should die together."