Her Requiem Mass, led by Monsignor Shane McCaughey, has taken place at St Joseph’s Church, also attended by President Catherine Connolly.
Thousands have lined the streets of Carrickmacross this morning for the funeral of 23-year-old Chloe McGee, one of five young friends who died in last weekend’s crash in Co. Louth.
Her Requiem Mass, led by Monsignor Shane McCaughey, has taken place at St Joseph’s Church, also attended by President Catherine Connolly.
Chloe will be laid to rest in the family plot at St Joseph’s Cemetery this afternoon.
During the Mass, Chloe was remembered as a warm, caring young woman, and a series of symbols reflecting her life and personality were brought to the altar.
Monsignor McCaughey told mourners that Chloe’s joyful spirit, determination, and the love she shared with family and friends were an inspiration, and he encouraged everyone to give thanks for her life.
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He reflected on her studies, her work, and the kindness she showed throughout her life.
Homily delivered by Monsignor Shane McCaughey –“On Saturday evening tragedy struck our community and in particular struck Kieran and Eileen, Aaron, Steven and Nicola, and the McGee and Sheridan families with the death of their beloved daughter and sister, Chloe. Four other families were equally devastated in the terrible crash that claimed the lives of Alan Mc Cluskey, Shay Duffy, Dylan Commins and Chloe Hipson. Five names that will forever be united when the horror of that evening is recalled. Since then, we have been on a roller coaster of emotions, swinging from grief to anger, from laughter to tears, and we have all asked the same questions to which there are no answers – Why did this happen? Why did God allow it to happen? How will we face the future again?
One of the big questions posed by life and pondered on by philosophers is – How is it, we human beings are so limited in so many ways, yet in suffering there are no limits? St. Augustine, the great philosopher of the past posed the question which we can ponder now. “Is the love we have for another person, worth the pain of loss caused by their death?”
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We describe Mary the mother of Jesus as the Mother of Courage because she showed profound faith and resilience in the face of immense challenges throughout her life, none more so than when she stood at the foot of the cross, watching her son die and hearing his words to St. John, ‘Behold your mother’. On Tuesday, five hearses left Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, and the McGee family brought home the coffin containing Chloe, as the other families received the coffins of their loved ones. The image that stays with me from those scenes is the image of Mary the Mother of Jesus in Michelangelo’s Pieta, when Mary embraces the lifeless body of Jesus and in doing so she experiences all the unfathomable pain of parents who are confronted by the loss of their child.
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 causes 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?
The Scripture Readings chosen for this Mass are the only hints I can find to answer these questions. The Book of Wisdom in the First Reading assures us that the souls of the virtuous are in the hands of God. St. John in the Second Reading tells us that it is the Father’s love that is lavished upon that lets us be called God’s children. And in the Gospel, St. John gives us those words of consolation, spoken first by Jesus to his closest friends before his imminent death. ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled, Trust in God still and trust in me.’
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Today, your hearts are broken, Kieran and Eileen, Aaron, Stephen, Nicola and all the family and friends and neighbours of Chloe. Yet we can all say today; thank God for the life of Chloe McGee, thank God for her twenty-three years of life, thank God for her fun and her joy, for her determination to overcome obstacles and her willingness to achieve her goals, for her energy and her dancing, for her charming smile and his radiant love. We celebrate that in the words of one of her O’Fiaich Institute students, ‘She was the one who inspired me most.’ We are thankful to God for giving Chloe to us and now we must return her to God.
Chloe was born in 2002, into a loving and extended family. She grew up in a wonderful home with brothers Aaron and Stephen, and later sister Nicola. I say extended family, for her other home was Granny Philomena and Aunt Rosie. It was traditional farmhouse where not only the front door was always open, but the kitchen door was open too. 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 ‘cead mile failte’ for all visitors. Eileen and Kieran might have received the children’s allowance, but it was Granny and Rosie that reared the children. The deaths of both women in the last three years caused all the family deep and profound grief.
2006-2014 Lough Mourne NS in Aughnamullen provided primary education and then 2014-19 to Inver College in Carrickmacross for secondary schooling, where she excelled receiving the accolades of Head Girl and Student of the Year. 2019-23 through Covid years was spent studying at University Limerick where she graduated with a B.Ed. degree in Construction Engineering and Graphics. Teaching practice in Patrician High School and then a position in O’Fiaich Institute Dundalk, and three years on, she received her permanent post, her dream job. Tributes from Principal, staff and students are well recorded this week.
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Sports, Macra and farming were her hobbies. Aughnamullen LGFC from under-age success to inter-county footballer, showed her passion and leadership skills. What happens in Macra stays in Macra, nights away remain Sub Secreto but certainly included jiving to country music. Destination Donegal was the theme to her weekend travel. In the Three Parish Club leading member, this summer taking part in skydiving fundraiser. Glor Tire 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, 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 …’
I do not know why tragedies like this happen. I do not know why this devastation has befallen the McGee family and the McCluskey family and the Duffy, Commins and Hipson families.
But I do know that the highest ideals we have in life is to love. Parents love is unconditional. It reflects the love of God for all of us. 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.
For all of us left behind, we turn to Mary, the Mother of God to intercede for us. She has travelled this path before – a mother receiving the dead body of their child – she knows your pain. She is rightly called the Mother of Courage – we all need her courage now.”
