OBITUARIES Animal lover Shauna had a kind heart and a gentle soul
THE close-knit community of Inistioge was rocked by the tragic death of Shauna O’Neill recently.
Shauna who was the daughter of Shem and Edel O’Neill of Oldcourt was buried on Thursday, November 16 – the day of her 26th birthday.
Shauna died tragically in Waterford in the home she shared with fiancé Ian Mills from Irishtown, New Ross.
One of five children Shauna was educated first in St Colmcille’s National School in Inistioge before attending Our Lady of Lourdes Secondary School in New Ross.
After her Leaving Cert she went on to study photography at Waterford College of Further Education and it was in Waterford that she met and fell in love with Ian, who was her first serious boyfriend.
The couple were devoted to each other and complimented each other’s personality perfectly.
Shauna was a keen photographer with a great idea for a good photo and she was often called upon over the years to photograph momentous family occasions such as weddings, christenings and birthdays.
However it was wildlife photography which really captured her heart where her patience and talent were rewarded with stunning shots of nature and flowers.
Shauna had a great love for animals from a young age and the O’Neill house in Oldcourt and later the home she shared with Ian in Waterford were full of animals at various times from the mundane to the exotic.
Over the years she owned cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, hamsters, gerbils, fish, a frog, a bearded dragon, a snake and a tarantula.
Despite themselves Ian and her family were often called upon to feed her eclectic pets with mam Edel often being required to bring home live crickets from Kilkenny to feed her bearded dragon while mice were a delicacy she bought for feeding her snake.
While Shauna was good with money and an accomplished saver no money was spared when it came to the care of her pets. There was also money for scratching posts, operations and specialised equipment for her pets even if it meant she did without treats for herself.
One of her more unusual pets, a bearded dragon, had been loved and cared for by Shauna for eleven years. When she visited the vet with the animal shortly before its death the vet couldn’t believe how old it was with the average life of a bearded dragon being about 7 years.
Shauna was also very accomplished at crochet having taught herself the skill by watching YouTube videos. She created all sorts of wonderful clothes and designs including hats, booties, teddy bears and blankets.
When she heard of a pregnancy among her relations or friends she busied herself getting just the right gift crocheted. She even had the gifts ready for two babies which were born days after her death.
Ivy Shauna Harpur, who was born just two days after Shuana died, is named in memory of her, while another relative, Cara Alice Fitzpatrick, was born on Shauna’s 26th birthday and the day of her burial.
Shauna and Ian who were due to celebrate their 7th anniversary a week after her death were due to marry in the Rivercourt Hotel in Kilkenny on April 27 next. A great organiser Shauna had much of the wedding planning in hand and to celebrate her love of all things Disney there was a Disney themed wedding planned.
She had picked her wedding dress showing it only to a select few. She had shown it to her granny, Mary Ellen O’Keeffe, shortly before Mary Ellen’s death last year and just weeks before her own death Shauna had shown the dress to her other granny, Maura O’Neill.
The bridesmaids dresses for her sisters Aimee and Tara and her future sister-in-law Nadine. Shauna’s own wedding shoes which had been painstakingly researched and sourced arrived shortly before her death.
Her wedding bouquet had also been planned and was to be a bunch of colourful sunflowers – Shauna’s favourite flower.
Shauna had a very kind and gentle nature and while Ian and herself lived in an apartment in Waterford City Centre she used to feed a homeless man who slept rough in the underground carpark of their apartment block.
The couple later moved to the Cork Road and had plans to view a house they were thinking about buying.
After college Shauna worked in the Bagel Factory in Waterford where she was a very valued and popular member of staff. During her four years there she was the first person that the other staff members would turn to when anything was needed to be done especially in the field of DIY.
A very creative person Shauna loved Halloween and plenty of effort and thought was put into her costume each year with her and Ian usually donning matching couple’s costumes for the occasion.
Not only did she dress up for the holiday but she also went to great lengths to decorate their home – the scarier the better – so that the children trick or treating would enjoy the experience of calling to them. She loved to see the children’s reaction when they called to their door in search of a sweet treat.
Shauna was very close to her siblings and in particular her younger brother Jamie. Despite their 12 year age gap the duo got on very well with Shauna calling him Bob for much of the time which was her pet name for him.
During Shauna’s funeral Una Kavanagh sang one of Shauna’s favourite songs, Bright Eyes from Watership Down, accompanied by Eddie Kerr on guitar. A friend of Shauna’s sister Tara, Nicola Malone, also sang a beautiful rendition of Sarah McLachan’s In the Arms of an Angel.
Her funeral mass was celebrated by Fr Richard Scriven and con-celebrated by Fr Carey, Fr McEvoy and Fr Cassin.
Twenty-six white balloons each carrying a handwritten note were also released into the air to mark her birthday.
Shauna’s mother, Edel, said the family and Ian have been overwhelmed by the support they received from the community as a whole, their neighbours, friends and relatives since Shauna’s death.
A collection at Shauna’s funeral mass raised €2,425 for Suicide Awareness.
Shauna is survived by her parents, Shem and Edel, brothers Eoghan and Jamie, sisters Aimee and Tara, fiancé Ian Mills, granny Maura O’Neill, aunts, uncles, cousins, family and friends.