The 23-year-old teacher was killed alongside her boyfriend and their friends in a car crash near Dundalk last Saturday
Tears flowed as the funeral for one of the victims of the tragic road crash in Co Louth last weekend was held on Saturday morning.
President Catherine Connolly was among the mourners who packed into St. Joseph’s Church, Carrickmacross in Co Monaghan for the funeral mass of 23-year-old Chloe McGee.
Ms McGee, a woodwork and construction school teacher, was one of five young friends who died in the car crash near Dundalk last Saturday.
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Teacher Chloe, 23, from Carrickmacross, was killed along with her boyfriend Alan McCluskey, 23, from Drumconrath in Meath and pals Dylan Commins, 23, also from Drumconrath; Shay Duffy, 21, from Carrickmacross and Chloe Hipson, 21, from Lanarkshire in Scotland in the horror crash.
A sixth occupant of the Volkswagen Golf in which the group of friends were travelling, a man from Ardee, survived the crash with non-life threatening injuries. He has since been released from hospital.
Mourners who gathered at St. Joseph’s Church were told of how Chloe was “a bubbly character with infectious laughter and smiles that could light up any room”.
The chief celebrant for the Mass, Monsignor Shane McCaughey, told the church: “The outpouring of grief in our communities and indeed all over the country in the last days is proof – if proof were needed – that the bonds of love which hold people together are so powerful, but cause deep hurt and distress when those bonds are torn apart. Love hurts.
“And when the pain of hurt becomes unbearable we are faced with an incredible challenge: ‘where can we turn to?; to whom can we go?'”
Mourners were told how Chloe “was born into a loving and extended family” and “she grew up in a wonderful home with brothers Aaron and Stephen, and later sister Nicola”.
“It was traditional farmhouse where not only the front door was always open, but the kitchen door was open too,” said Monsignor McCaughey.
“It was where the postman called every day, on his rounds, whether he had post or not, to get a cup of tea and toast at the table. And at the same table were the infants Chloe and Nicola, learning the values of traditional ‘céad míle fáilte’ for all visitors.”
Monsignor McCaughey continued: “Sports, Macra and farming were her hobbies. Aughnamullen LGFC from under-age success to inter-county footballer, showed her passion and leadership skills.
“In the Three Parish Club leading member, this summer taking part in skydiving fundraiser. Glór Tíre saw her on the television screens. Hairdressing in Lidoonan was special too. Her car, well that was a different level of passion altogether. Farming is in her blood, Chloe could pick out a winner in Show animals at a glance, she never minded getting her hands dirty.
“Faith was central to her being, as natural as breathing. Attendance at Mass was a must, Redemptorist Mission, and Novena in Dundalk and Magheracloone, in recent weeks, were attended by her and Alan.
“Dubai holiday has been mentioned already and the joy-filled excitement in the images sent home, suggested a couple who had found a deeper level of relationship – life was coming together for them both.
“Speaking to friends of Chloe we get an impression of a bubbly character with infectious laughter and smiles that could light up any room. Good looks from her mother and the gift of the gab from her dad.
“A quick retort was never far from her lips and, on Sunday evenings, when Pat Marron would have given her a jibe going out the door her response was always, ‘only I love you so much …’
Mourners were told how Chloe believed in a loving God and put her faith into practice, “not just in Church, but in the classroom and the Marca club, the GAA, and the jiving, but most importantly in the family”.
“Your devastation is real and warranted, and we pray that you will learn in time to live with the enormous crater that exists in your lives,” Monsignor McCaughey added.
Symbols brought to the altar to represent different aspects of Chloe’s life included a family photograph representing her first love; her car keys which represented her car which was her particular passion and her independence; a photo of Chloe with her boyfriend Alan McCluskey, whose funeral took place on Friday; a cowboy hat representing her love of country music, jiving and dancing; her passport showing her love for travel and an O’Fiaich Institute jersey representing where she taught for the last two years where she was so happy there and wanted to spend her career there.
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