THE baby killed in a
car crash earlier last week was laid to
rest cradled in her teenage mother’s arms on Friday.
Three-months old Niesha and her 16-year old mum
Kerry Ann Meehan died on Monday night in an horrific
head-on crash near Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
Several hundred people looked on as the
single coffin carrying mother and baby was carried
into St. Mary's Church, Creggan, Derry, for 10am
funeral mass.
Local parish priest Fr Stephen McLaughlin said the
city church, its vast granite-clad walls sparkling
in the morning sunshine, had witnessed many tragic
funerals down through the years including during the
Troubles.
“But nothing prepares you for the sight of a coffin
that contains both the mother and the child. As
mother and child, they were bonded in life and now
they are bonded together in death,” he said.
Funeral mass was concelebrated by Fr Willie Bradley
of St. Eunan's Cathedral parish in Letterkenny. The
congregation heard how he had attended the young
mother and infant at the scene of the horrific crash
that claimed both their lives. The Toyota Corolla
hatchback car in which they were travelling, was in
collision with an oncoming 4X4 towing a trailer full
of sheep at Tullygay, three kilometres from
Letterkenny.
Kerry Ann's boyfriend and father of baby Niesha,
Christopher Hanlon, 18, who was driving the car, was
seriously injured in the accident. The teenager,
from Leitirmacaward, west Donegal, remains critical
but stable at Letterkenny General Hospital. Fr.
McLaughlin led the congregation yesterday in prayers
for his recovery.
The local parish priest also offered sympathy to
Kerry Ann's mother Ann Meehan, her younger siblings,
Nathan, 13, and Courtney, 10, and her Creggan-based
grandparents Mary and Jim Meehan.
Ann Meehan had moved to Manor View, Letterkenny,
from her native Derry only last year with her young
family.
Fr. McLaughlin said despite her youth, Kerry Ann was
a capable mother with a caring nature. She had “a
great sense of humour” and “could bring light and
joy into the day”.
"The birth of Niesha about three months ago had
completely altered life for Kerry Ann but even at a
tender age, she had taken to the task of motherhood
with great gusto and with a genuine sense of
responsibility.
“She loved to look after her little girl and, in
fact, was loathe to let anyone else do the job for
her. She was very reluctant to hand the child over
to anyone else.
"Kerry Ann was keen to create as good an environment
for her little girl as she could. This had become
the role that defined her purpose in life,” Fr
McLaughlin added. Kerry Ann and her baby were later
laid to rest in Derry’s city cemetery, just yards
from the church.
Meanwhile, the driver of the 4X4, a man in his 40s
from Kerrykeel, Co Donegal has been released from
hospital. Gardai have renewed their appeal for
witnesses to the head-on collision. |
