Classmates and friends formed a guard of honour.
The mother of Clonmel crash victim Nicole Murphy has paid emotional tribute to her ‘angel’ daughter as hundreds gathered to say goodbye at the 18-year-old’s funeral.
The funeral took place at St John the Baptist Church in Kilcash, near Clonmel on Thursday morning (August 31).
Classmates and friends from Loreto School formed a guard of honour as the casket was carried from the hearse into the church.
Nicole (Nikki) died along with Zoey Coffey (18) and Grace McSweeney (18) and Ms McSweeney’s 24-year-old brother Luke after the car they were travelling in crashed into a wall in Clonmel after the students received their leaving cert results.
Nicole Murphy’s mother pays tribute to Clonmel crash victim
In a tribute to her daughter, Nicole’s mother, Serena said the teenager was “truly beautiful inside and out”.
“We always told her how she lit up a room when she walked in,” she said.
“She was the life and soul of our family, especially at Christmas. In fact, she was the boss of Christmas. She told us when and how to decorate the tree, and sometimes those decorations never came down.
“I remember she would stare at the angel on the top of the tree and admire how beautiful it was.
“Now she is our beautiful little angel. We would like to ask you when you are putting an angel on top of your Christmas tree this year will you please think and pray for our angel Nikki, that she is somewhere more beautiful than any Christmas she can think of.
“We only had Nikki for 18 years but they were amazing. She was so caring and too good for this world. I was so lucky to have been her mother and I thank God every day for giving her to me.
“We wish we could have had her for eternity but now she will live in our hearts forever.”