Hundreds of mourners stood in the pouring rain to pay their respects at the funeral of Michael 'Mikey' Kelly on Tuesday.
Mourners heard the 25-year-old, who was one of three young people killed in a crash in Co Carlow last week, always had “a smile on his face from ear to ear”.
Michael, from Nurney, Co Carlow, died alongside his friends, Katie Graham (19) and Daryl Culbert (21), after the car in which they were travelling crashed in the townland of Leagh on Wednesday night.
A fourth person, a man in his 20s, also sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the incident.
Michael's Requiem Mass, held at St Brigid’s Church in Hackettstown, was led by Fr Martin Smith, a friend and colleague of Mikey’s mother, Rita, who works at the South Eastern Technology University (SETU).
He is also survived by his younger brother, Jordan.
Michael’s car, a black Lexus, was parked outside the Church as a mark of his love of cars.
His girlfriend Sasha wept as she carried a photograph of her late boyfriend.
Giving the eulogy, Michael's brother said: “If you told me a few years ago that I would be standing up making a speech for my big brother Mike, I would have presumed it would have been as best man at his wedding to his lovely girlfriend Sasha. And as much as Mike wouldn’t want me to do it, that’s exactly what he’s going to get.
“Mike was a very soft-spoken chap, a cheeky smile and a glint in his eye, like his friend Daryl.
“I would love to describe Mike as a car enthusiast, or fanatic, but that wouldn’t do him justice. He really had petrol flowing through his veins.”
Laughter
He continued: “I heard many stories from his friends, but there were always two things in common: a big smile on his face, and his snickers on his legs.”
Jordan added the main thing he will remember about his older brother will be “his ability to make me laugh even when I didn’t want to”.
He also paid tribute to their mother, saying: “As much as I want to talk about me and my amazing brother, there is one person who made us who we are, and that is my Mam.”
Explaining that after the death of their father, Rita “took on the role of both parents”.
“Mam, I know that times are tough,” Jordan said, “but we will get through this together”.
“On behalf of me and Mike, I just want to say that you are an amazing mother, and we could never ask for more,” he added, before also thanking their wider family for their support following Michael's death.
Symbols of the trainee electrician’s life were brought to the altar by relatives and friends, including a painting by his girlfriend, a family photograph, a racing helmet owned by his late father, and a model of an RC drift car.
Fr Smith told mourners the crash “robbed us of a glowing son, a smiling brother, of a loving boyfriend and of a good friend”.
“We’re all in shock,” he said, adding: “Mike’s big smiling face from ear to ear beams out of all the photographs, even the baby photographs.
“His gentleness and his quiet manner, his big love of cars, standing around talking to his friends about them or going for a spin. It shouldn’t end like this.”
Sarah Slater
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