A priest told the funeral of a teenager killed in a hit-and-run in Co Clare that parents and grandparents in Ireland are “full of fear” of the society their children and grandchildren are growing up in.
Fr Richard Davern was addressing mourners attending the funeral of 17-year-old Bryan Lowe, who was knocked down by a car and dragged under the vehicle, which did not remain at the scene.
Questioning the apparent lack of respect for life in modern society, Davern told mourners at the boy’s funeral: “So many parents today are full of fear of the world that their children and indeed their grandchildren are growing up in.
“What is happening in our society, where do we turn, how can some sections of society have lost all connection to God?”
The priest asked journalists to “turn the mirror” on Irish society “and write about the deeper questions that are in every heart and mind of the people in this church today”.
Bryan Lowe was riding an e-bike when he was struck and killed by a vehicle on a rural road at Cottage Cross, Clonlara in southeast Clare, on Friday September 4th.
The alarm was raised at around 11pm, but the boy was declared dead at the scene.
Gardaí said they were “following a definite line of inquiry”, and it is understood they are examining whether the boy was deliberately run down.
Investigators said they wanted to speak to the driver and occupants of a silver/gold-coloured Skoda Octavia, registration 05-C-5982, which was seen driving in the Clonlara and Castleconnell area on the night in question and at some point on the following morning.
Gardaí released a photograph of the Skoda, which it is understood they recovered partially burned at Castleconnell, Co Limerick, on Saturday September 5th.
Bryan Lowe was a sixth-year student at St Munchin’s College, Corbally, Limerick, who was “determined” to complete his Leaving Certificate exams in September, Davern said.
But “school was not his thing, it was with his hands that he was going to carve out a career for himself” in the construction sector, he said.
The priest said the boy’s family and all who knew him were “devastated, traumatised and feeling utterly lost”.
Davern asked the family to “trust the authorities and give them the time needed” … “they will see to it that the truth and justice around Bryan’s death will be established.”
The boy’s death was “tragically cruel”, Davern said.
‘Heartbroken and traumatised’: Family of boy (16) killed in Cloonlara hit-and-run speak out
A local singer performed the Joan Baez song All My Trials.
Students from St Munchin’s College performed guards of honour outside St Nicholas’s Church, Westbury, Corbally, as Bryan Lowe’s blue-coloured coffin was shouldered in and out by members of his family, including his mother, Crystal, and his father, Brian.
Crystal Lowe thanked St Munchin’s College and her son’s fellow students for their support.
“Bryan was a great boy, and the boys in St Munchin’s have done him so so proud,” she said. “I can hold up my head high knowing he is a boy I reared.”
Addressing her son’s classmates and friends, Lowe said: “I know it’s also very hard for you all. If I can ask you for anything, it is that you just remember Bryan in the divine mercy. Thank you very much and God bless.”
The boy’s family prayed for the first responders who attended the scene and the gardaí working on the case.
A cousin told mourners: “He had a hunger to work, a hunger to learn, a hunger to improve himself, a hunger to be better, and while he had strength and a great work ethic, he had a gentleness about him, a good heart, and he cared about people.
“Bryan was a kind and caring young man, he was also somebody you could count on, somebody who could have a laugh with you, stand beside you, and somebody who made life a bit brighter.”
A guard of honour was also performed by local motorcycle clubs, which led and escorted the funeral cortège from the church to Doonass cemetery, where Bryan Lowe was laid to rest.
Gardaí said their investigation is “ongoing”.