BROKENHEARTED loved ones shed tears and said prayers for two young men who sadly lost their lives in the latest Donegal road tragedy.
Leon Shovlin (27) and Caoilan Bushe (30) were killed when their car was in a collision with another vehicle on the N15 near collision near Barnesmore last Saturday.
Their funerals yesterday (Wednesday) were just hours apart, with Leon’s devastated parents and Caoilan heartbroken family comforted during emotional Mass ceremonies.
Leon’s funeral was at 11am the Church Of The Holy Family in Ardara and Caoilan’s was at 1pm at the Church of the Holy Redeemer in Drimarone.
Leon’s parents Corinna and father Alan Blanking and Caoilan’s family, including his heartbroken mum Karen and siblings Shaniene, Nathan, Rion, Tori led mourners. Caoilan is predeceased by his father Benny Bushe JR.
Mourners in Ardara heard how Leon cared for his mother, who is recovering from a broken hip, and made her breakfast in a “very last act of love” last Saturday – just hours before his tragic death.
Mourners in Drimarone heard that Caoilan “loved life” and was an inspiration to others.
Leon Shovlin.
Caoilan Bushe.
Ardara Mass priest Fr Philip Daly told Corinna and Alan: “We hope our presence is a support to you. Silence is really the only response to death.
“But when death happens tragically, as in the case with Leon, sitting in silence is inadequate.
“Sometimes it is all we can do when death strikes tragically. We have to wait for God to come to us and comfort us in our pain and sorrow.
“To comfort Leon’s mother Corinna and father Alan is our task, to wait in silence with the compassion of God at your side, so you that you can cope with the huge loss of your son Leon.
“For weeks and months to come, you will grieve and cry and remember the happier times of years gone by.
“God is right beside you and your brokenness. He knows the torture that you are going through.
“Tragedy always stuns us. This is always true when we experience the sudden death of someone we love.
“We are visible shaken as a community. That was our experience from last weekend here is south Donegal last weekend when we learned of the loss of two young lives.
“You wonder who the unfortunate victims are. Could they be a member of my own family? When we heard their identities, our hearts went out to Corinna and Alan and all the family.
“I didn’t know Leon personally, but I know as a young man, he spent happy years on the farm of his grandfather in Glenties.
“There is a beautiful photo of him as young as a young fellow, sitting up in a tractor when he was around four or five years of age.
“He lived in Dublin but came home to his mother in Ardara and his father in Derry. When I met his mother, she was brokenhearted, as you would expect.
“She said at least she had the comfort of him being home for his last few days.
“Leon heard that his mother had broken her hip while she was washing the floor and knew that he had to come home for a few days to help.
“His coming home to be with his mother was an act of love for his mother. Love makes everything lovely.
“This last act of love by being there for Corinna is a precious act to hold onto. His very last act of love was that he made her breakfast before he left home that Saturday morning.
“This will help his family to cope with their loss.”
Church of the Holy Family, Ardara.
Fr Daly added in Ardara: “Leon now his own room in heaven. His family would like him to have his own room in Ardara or Derry.
“But we hope now that he is at peace forever in the arms of his grandmother and grandfather.
“His life was so cruelly cut short by tragedy. We also remember Caoilan Bushe, who also died tragically in the accident.”
Later, mourners in Drimarone listened after a framed photo of him was placed on his coffin and he was remembered in emotional eulogies.
They were told that Caoilan would do so much for others and encouraged people to “be yourself” to “love hard”.
Huge applause greeted the warm, heartfelt words as a relative said: “
We will miss him for the rest of our lives.”
Mass priest Fr Liam Boyle told Caoilan’s mother Karen and his brothers and sisters: “The sadness of the day is because of the possibilities. These are what we cling to and hold onto as living memories.”
Church of the Holy Redeemer, Drimarone.
Tributes were paid online during the funeral, with a family member writing: “Rip sweet Caoilan, our beautiful cousin and nephew.”
Leon was buried in Kilraine graveyard, Glenties, and Caoilan was buried in Cranny Road Cemetery, Frosses.
The tragedy of Leon and Caoilan was followed by a second collision in Muff just hours later last Saturday that caused the death on Sunday of Derry man Ashlea Harkin, who was in his 20s.
A Service to Celebrate the Life of Ash will take place there today (Thursday) at 11.15am followed by removal at 12pm to Lakelands Crematorium in Cavan for cremation at 3pm.
A fourth motorist, a woman in her 20s, died in a collision in Dublin on Saturday night.
Then, last Sunday morning, Tyrone dad-of-two Adrian Slevin, who was in his 30s, died following a two-vehicle crash in Omagh.
There was also a road tragedy death in Leitrim on Sunday when a man in his 60s died after the tractor he was driving crashed near Mullaghycullen, Drumcong around 11pm. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The sad news of all six deaths of the victims – who tragically died in Donegal, Dublin, Tyrone, and Leitrim – was being absorbed on Sunday while mourners wept at the funeral in Tipperary of GAA star Laura Kennedy (20), who died last Tuesday, May 12.