‘No one can take your place,’ cousin tells funeral of crash victim Molly Dempsey (15)
A heartbroken Wicklow community yesterday shared vivid stories of the “bright, bubbly and cheeky” teenager who died in a car crash last weekend.
Molly Dempsey’s extended family and friends gathered at St Joseph’s Church in Baltinglass for the funeral, donning bright pink and white T-shirts bearing an image of the 15-year-old.
The large crowd of mourners was there to rally around Molly’s devastated parents Nigel and Mary, who also lost two of their sons: Roy, in 2007 when he was 13, and Killian, in 2016, aged 16.
Before her requiem mass began, family members adorned the altar and her coffin with cherished mementoes, including a photograph to represent her love for her family; a speaker to signify her passion for loud music, “as her neighbours would well know”; and her favourite book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, which she “loved to read herself and to her nieces and nephews”.
Molly’s cousin Bailey read an emotional poem he had penned for her, including the lines: “I can’t even remember the first time I saw your face, but I do know within my life, no one can take your place.
“We’re there for each other, and we’ll be there to the end, by blood we are cousins, and by hearts we are friends.”
Her siblings Ella, JP, and Mackenzie read a moving tribute to Molly’s brief but memory-filled life, including her love of animals, “especially her two babies, Polly and Vinny – her dogs”.
“A fond memory of Molly’s love for animals is when she and JP, ‘Double Trouble’, thought it was a great idea and a bit of craic, sure why not, to sit in Molly’s room and make a bridle from some rope they had found, and to later use that on Max the donkey, which the pair robbed and rode from a field of a local farmer. We would like to mention that the donkey was, in fact, returned,” they recalled fondly.
“I’m sure half of Baltinglass heard the two singing their hearts out to Into the West, convinced they were the real cowboys of the south-east.
“JP and Molly also had a love for dancing, with videos and pictures to prove it. From jiving to break dancing, they had it all.”
The siblings also spoke of Molly’s love for her sister Ella.
“Molly was the baby but Ella was Molly’s baby and she loved her so much,” they said, recalling another occasion when “Molly and Ella also invited the neighbours to a lovely concert, knowing full well they sounded like cats on a tin roof ”.
Molly’s great love of music was also a key feature of the eulogy.
“Her speaker was definitely the worst present Santa could have brought her. The entire town would feel the vibrations and hear Molly’s music, although I really think we’d all pay to hear all that again and to hear the cheeky laugh after turning it up to the fullest volume, making sure everyone knew it was Molly.
“The last and best memory we would like to share with you all is when Ella and Molly gave JP a total glamour makeover to turn JP into Jenice – he was fab, girls.
“He was fully kitted with a pink dress, makeup and pink Barbie heels, accessorised with a pink bag, earrings and a fabulous fur coat.
“Molly really was one of a kind, so bright, beautiful and funny. The world will be so quiet without her. Her bubbly personality is going to be missed so much.
“Rest easy now Moll – we love you, sweet girl.”
Molly was the youngest of her parents’ nine children.
Molly was the 70th person to die on Ireland’s roads this year.
The male teenage driver of the car in which she was a passenger was arrested in relation to the crash and was subsequently released, with gardaí preparing a file for the DPP.
“Molly was one of a kind, so bright, beautiful and funny. The world will be so quiet without her”