Tragic driver, 13, is laid to rest
A YOUNG boy killed while driving a car on Clare Island was taken ‘80 years too soon’, his funeral heard yesterday.
Morgan Pinder, 13, died after the car he was driving crashed into a ditch on the Co. Mayo island at around 1am on Sunday morning.
It is understood the boy had taken the car out for a drive in the middle of the night without his parents’ knowledge.
Yesterday, chief celebrant at his funeral Mass Fr John Kenny described Morgan as a person of ‘small age but a big presence’.
Fr Kenny, who travelled from Westport to Clare Island to administer the Last Rites in the early dawn hours, described Morgan as a person who was thoughtful and kind. ‘When a child dies it
‘Life can never be the same again’
is always nature backwards, grief is overwhelming, and life can never be the same again,’ Fr Kenny said in a homily which was relayed by loudspeaker to hundreds standing outside a packed Church of the Sacred Heart.
‘He could make you laugh out loud with his sense of humour. He was so many things in so many ways to so many people in such a short lifetime.’
Earlier, light rain sprinkled the throng of mourners as they followed the wicker basket containing Morgan’s remains.
It was carried from the Pinder family bungalow at Gurteen to the church by his older brothers Christian, Dylan and Jack, father Tom, and other relatives.
Amongst a number of guards of honour along the route were ones provided by members of Louisburgh GAA Club as well as sheep farmers – accompanied by their individual prize rams.
Mourners were told that Morgan, who was due to start secondary school in the coming weeks – was renowned for his prize-winning rams. ‘Many’s the hour he spent fluffing up lambs to keep them looking the best,’ recalled a relative at the presentation of offertory gifts.
The island was thronged for yesterday’s funeral, as it also was on Monday when the youngster’s remains reposed in the family home.
Inhabitants of neighbouring islands, including Inishturk and Achill Island, as well as Inishbofin, have been travelling to Clare Island since news of the tragedy broke on Sunday to offer their sympathy to Morgan’s parents, Tom and Maureen, and his three older brothers.
An inquest into the death of the teenager will be conducted at a later date.