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23 Oct 2025

Clonmel came to a standstill to mourn the tragic deaths of Luke and Grace McSweeney

Clonmel came to a standstill to mourn the tragic deaths of Luke and Grace McSweeney

A view of the large crowd of mourners gathered outside SS Peter & Paul's Church in Clonmel today for the funeral of Luke and Grace McSweeney

Clonmel came to a standstill this morning as thousands gathered to mourn the heartbreaking deaths of brother and sister Luke and Grace McSweeney a week ago in a tragic car accident near their home.


Shops and businesses closed and a huge crowd gathered on Gladstone Street and in SS Peter & Paul's Church for the funeral Mass for the two siblings at 11.30am.


The sight of Grace's white coffin and Luke's oak coffin being carried into the church side by side was the most heart wrenching and sorrowful the town has witnessed in many years. The sibling's father Paul and brothers Mark and David were among the pallbearers.


President Michael D. Higgins and Education Minister Norma Foley attended the funeral while the Taoiseach was represented by his Aide de Camp Cmdt. Claire Mortimer. Mayor of Clonmel Cllr Richie Molloy, the councillors of Clonmel Borough District, Clonmel Garda Supt. Kieran Ruane and Bishop of Waterford & Lismore Alphonsus Cullinan were among the other dignitaries present.


Canon Billy Meehan, PP of St Mary's Parish in Clonmel, celebrated the funeral Mass. He had baptised both Luke and Grace and also married their parents Paul and Brigid.


In his homily, he extended sympathy on behalf of the whole faith community in Clonmel to Luke and Grace's parents and the parents of Zoey Coffey and Nicole Murphy, who also died in the accident, and their families. He also remembered the O'Reilly family from Cashel, who suffered the loss of three family members, Thomas and Bridget and their grandson Tom in a car accident on Tuesday.


He spoke of how the whole town and country has been “united in grief and solidarity”. A cloud had hung over the town of Clonmel but the support and presence of the people had been a great comfort for all the family.


He described Luke as an exceptional young person who was involved in the GAA and in recent times in soccer with Old Bridge FC. He was a spiritual and deeply religious person who passed on little gems of wisdom to all his friends.


Canon Meehan recalled how during the Covid pandemic, Luke used to hit ball around with his younger brother Mark and gave him the following advice: to keep going to the gym, eat properly and remain loyal to his religion and God. He was sure many of the young people who had visited the McSweeney home over the past few days to pay their respects would remember “some little gem of wisdom” Luke had given them.

He described Grace as a diligent girl who was full of life, loved dancing and was a great gymnast. She loved going to the Loreto Secondary School to teach the sport.

"We all remember at this year's St Patrick's Day Parade when Grace did her little routine before the parade stand and how graceful she was and how professional her performance was. 

"Her name was Grace, she was grace by nature and grace by disposition." 

Canon Meehan also mentioned how Grace was the official time and score keeper at matches recording the times and scores at matches on an app on her phone. 

He said, "If you wanted to know who scored and what time, you went to Grace." 

He described Luke and Grace as "the angels of peace to us all". 

“The legacy that Luke and Grace will leave with us is a legacy of spirituality, because God meant a lot to Luke and Grace. Let's hope that message will be picked up by all their friends and their companions." 

At the end of the ceremony, there were several moving and eloquent eulogies to Luke and Grace. 

Luke and Grace's mother Brigid began her eulogy by saying the McSweeney family were thinking of both the Coffey and Murphy families as they too mourned the loss of their loved ones.

She thanked the community for their support over the past week and paid a beautiful tribute to her beloved son and daughter.


"My gratitude outweighs my sorrow. I feel compelled to come before you all here today to let you know the messages you sent from near and far were heard. The compassion shown to us during this time is overwhelming, and like many of you over the last week, I could not find the words," she told the congregation. 


"I too find myself not able to find the words because 'thank you' feels inadequate. On behalf of Paul, Mark, David and myself, we will be forever in awe of our emergency services. 

She thanked the Gardaí, fire brigade, ambulances and hospital staff for their heroic efforts last Friday night when they lost Luke, Grace, Zoey and Nicole, who were four extraordinary young people. 

"The help and support that we have received from families, friends, neighbours, school clubs, shops and businesses of our town, the people of Clonmel, our communities and far beyond is truly phenomenal. We are all strong now because of you.

"Paul and myself were honoured to be the parents of Luke and Grace and are blessed to have them for so long.

"Grace was gentle and very shy and always had to have a friend by her side. Luke was strong, not only in body but also in mind, and wanted to make a difference in the world.

"He wanted to make it a better place. Luke and Grace had wonderful friends and I thank them all for making Grace and Luke's life so fulfilled and wonderful. They were the happiest they could ever have been. 

"Luke strived to be the best version of himself and he encouraged everybody to do the same with Luke's code, eat well, stay fit and have faith. 

"Leave your sorrow behind here today and make the world a better place,” she concluded.

As the funeral procession left SS Peter & Paul's Church, the choir sang, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, and a guard of honour of students from the Presentation Secondary School awaited them outside in the church grounds. A large crowd walked behind the two hearses as they proceeded through the town centre to St Patrick's Cemetery where Luke and Grace were buried.

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