A vivacious, joyful soul Heartbreaking scenes at funeral
THE tragic death of Aisling Dolan in a car accident in Enniscorthy last Tuesday has deeply affected numerous people in the New Ross area, including in her former school St Mary’s, where students have been supported in the wake of the incident.
A room was set up at the school on Thursday for Aisling’s former classmates to gather and reflect on her life, two days after she was killed in an horrific three vehicle accident outside Enniscorthy town, when the car in which she and her mother Breda were travelling was all but destroyed in a collision with a jeep.
Principal John Michael Porter said Aisling sat her Leaving Certificate at the school, where she spent six years, last June. ‘We knew her very well. Word came through on Tuesday through her close knit group of friends that there was an accident. We just didn’t know it was going to touch us that closely.’
Up to 20 of Aisling’s friends spent time together in the room and some of former classmates sang at her funeral Mass in St Mary & St Michael’s Parish Church on Saturday.
Mr Porter said: ‘We met a few of her friends around town and they seemed a bit lost so we created a room for them with sofas and chairs where they could sit down and chat and go through some memories of Aisling themselves over a cup of tea or coffee, rather than meeting in the town.’
Mr Porter said Aisling’s death has affected her former teachers, as well as students. ‘She was into everything in school and was a student who had a good core of friends. We are just heartbroken. It’s hard to believe she was here at our end of year Mass last year – how fickle life is.
‘Aisling was someone who put her heart into everything she turned her hand to. She had that rare quality of being intelligent and very sociable and friendly and I’m sure she would have blossomed as a childminder.’
He said: ‘There is a sense of sadness here. She will be remembered as a fun loving, joyful girl who participated fully in school life. She left here with a group of friends who are friends forever and they have rallied around each other and we will all keep a very, very positive memory of Aisling.’
He said: ‘It’s a sad, poignant time as we were about to have our sixth year Mass as our sixth year students are preparing to move on with their lives and Aisling was here last year and now she is gone forever.’
Describing Aisling as a vivacious character who had a lovely smile, Mr Porter said she was part of a group of friends who were very supportive of each other.
‘Some of her friends had gone through personal tragedies recently – within a short space of time. You have people who have lost mothers, sisters and some of the girls lost a close friend and Aisling was always there for them. I am sure they will be there for each other and for her family now. As our school motto states “There is no strength without unity”.’
A special prayer was said in her name at the school’s end-of-year Mass, along with a prayer of the faithful for her family, and Mr Porter recalled her joyful spirit in her address.
He said it is important that students continue with their studies while remembering Aisling and the end of year mass and the annual talent show took place as normal last week.
‘We had our talent show on Friday and have kept things as normal as possible as that is what psychologists advise. Aisling could have meant so much to someone else so we have supports available.
‘The school community is very, very strong here and in this time we rally round each other and make sure whoever needs support will get it.’
THERE were heartbreaking scenes in New Ross parish church on Saturday as hundreds of mourners attended the funeral Mass of popular local teenager Aisling Dolan, who was killed in a horrific accident on the N11 at Enniscorthy four days earlier.
Mgr Joe McGrath, joined by several members of the local clergy, celebrated the Mass for the 19-year-old. He said: ‘Who could ever imagine that a day like this could dawn in our lives. Yes, it happens, but it always happens to others. This morning it suddenly becomes our reality.’
Describing Aisling, late of Stephen’s Court, New Ross, as a vibrant, determined, talented girl on the ‘runway of life’, Mgr McGrath said she was taken suddenly from her family, friends and neighbours through no fault of her own.
He said the added heartbreak was that her mother Breda was in a hospital bed that morning recovering from the injuries she sustained in the accident.
‘She is very much in our prayers and thoughts this morning. It’s a day when the family would prefer to lock the door and be at home. However, it isn’t humanly possible and probably unhealthy to try to deal with a tragedy like this alone.’
He called on the community to continue to support the family. ‘On behalf of everybody we extend our sincere sympathies and promise our support today and into the future. Words can be very empty on a morning like this; sometimes they can offend, they certainly can go unheard amid the confusion,’ he said, urging people to comfort the Dolan family not only through words alone, but with hugs and gentle smiles.
Mgr McGrath said: ‘It’s necessary for us to work our way forward into some kind of hope.’
He said Aisling would have worked out her future. ‘Those who knew and loved her know what she would have achieved during the rest of her life. Sadly, that isn’t going to be. All the goodness and talents that made her the person she was – none of that disappears into thin air. There is more to us than meets the eye.’
A family member read the poem On The Death Of The Beloved. It’s closing lines: ‘May you continue to inspire us: To enter each day with a generous heart/To serve the call of courage and love/Until we see your beautiful face again/In that land where there is no more separation/Where all tears will be wiped from our mind/And where we will never lose you again,’ elicited sobs of grief from mourners.
St Mary’s Secondary School choir sang beautifully during the Mass and were praised by Mgr McGrath for their contribution to ceremony, which took place poignantly before the New Ross Communion.
Aisling was laid to rest in St Michael’s Cemetery, Tinnahinch, Graiguenamanagh, afterwards in one of the biggest funerals the town has seen in recent times.