The death of 18-year-old Brian Murphy, as a result of head injuries he received outside a Dublin nightclub last week, was described at his funeral Mass yesterday as both a personal and public tragedy.
The chief celebrant, Father Gerard Tyrrell, said that many people were truly broken-hearted by his death and the manner in which it had occurred.
"It is every parent's nightmare that something like this could happen to their child. It's every parent's nightmare that their child could be responsible for something like this", he said. "His death is a huge tragedy, because it is an ultimate rejection and abuse of the gift that life is. What happened to Brian was wrong and goes against everything we know to be good."
Brian Murphy died of injures he sustained when he was attacked by a group of young men outside Club Anabel at the Burlington Hotel.
The Church of St Therese in Mount Merrion was full to overflowing for the requiem Mass, which was concelebrated by Father Tyrrell, chaplain at UCD; Father Brian Lawless, curate of the parish; Father Pat McManus, parish priest; Father Tom Nash, Blackrock College; Father John Dunne, of Gonzaga College, where the deceased completed his Junior Certificate; and Father Jim Caffrey, director of the Catholic Youth Council.
Many of those present were young people, students of several Dublin secondary schools, including Gonzaga College, Terenure College and Muckross College. Addressing them, Father Tyrrell said that life was both precious and fragile. "In your efforts to live life to the full, remember this", he said.
The chief mourners were Brian's father, Mr Denis Murphy, who delivered the first reading; his mother, Mary, who delivered the second reading; his sisters Clare and Brona, and his brother, Robert.
Prayers were said that the bereaved family might find forgiveness in their hearts for those responsible for his death.
Mr Denis Murphy, paying tribute to his son, said that Brian had touched the lives of many and made numerous friends during his short life. They had been a normal, ordinary family until eight days ago. "Death visited our household in a cruel and vicious way and snatched our Brian from us", he said, adding that their lives had been changed forever.
Following requiem Mass the remains of Brian Murphy were taken away for cremation. His ashes will be buried during a private ceremony at Shanganagh Cemetery later.