THE small east Cork parish of Shanagarry was in mourning last evening as the remains of Bernadette O'Brien (16), who died at the Point in Dublin at the weekend, were brought to the Church of The Immaculate Conception, her family's place of worship.
Pupils from Colman's Community College, including Bernadette's classmates from the transition year in the college, lined the approaches to the church as the entire community gathered to show their sympathy for the O'Brien family.
Earlier, the coffin was escorted by gardai from the Mater Hospital in Dublin to the outskirts of the city to help ease the way for the cortege on its journey to Cork.
When it reached Fermoy in Co Cork, gardai again escorted the remains on the final leg of the journey to Shanagarry.
The chief mourners were Mr Noel O'Brien, Bernadette's father, his wife Anne Marie, and their only son Brendan (15).
At the church, Bernadette's school friends wept as the hearse emerged from a lane way into the scenic village of Shanagarry.
Her remains were borne into the church by relatives on a bitterly cold evening as friends and neighbours described the scene as one of the saddest ever witnessed in the parish.
The remains were received in the church by the local curate, Father David Herlihy, who will concelebrate the requiem Mass for Bernadette in Shanagarry today.
The funeral will take place after 11 a.m. Mass.