THE final Irish victim of the Tunisia shooting was laid to rest at the weekend.
Lorna Carty, from Robinstown Co. Meath, died in the horrific attack in the popular tourist resort of Sousse in Tunisia on Friday, June 26.
She had been in the resort with her husband Declan, who was recovering from heart surgery. The ill-fated trip had been a gift from a relative.
Thousands turned up to pay their respects to Lorna’s grieving husband and her two children, 21-year-old Simon and 18-year-old Hazel.
Hazel had just finished her Leaving Cert and was on a trip to Turkey in celebration of the end of school when she learned of her mother’s death.
Simon, a science student at University College Dublin, was the only member of the family at home in Meath. He joined his father in Tunisia in the days after his mother’s death to support him in bringing her body home.
As the crowds gathered outside the Church of the Assumption in Robinstown, Lorna’s neighbours and friends from the community provided tea, coffee and cold drinks to those waiting.
“Her goodness and kindness will always be remembered and appreciated and spoken of,” Father Noel Horneck told the mourners.
“But our mourning as friends, neighbours, colleagues, club and parish is nothing compared to your loss.”
Monseigneur Seán Heaney, who was representing the bishop, added: “We have lost a great person in Lorna. A person of goodness.”
Lorna’s love of GAA was acknowledged at the service, with a guard of honour provided by the Meath senior football team, the Dunmerry intermediate team and the Dunmerry camogie team.
A qualified nurse, Lorna was the unofficial “club nurse” for the Dunmerry GAA club, the crowds heard.
Gifts offered during the service included her first aid bag, a Dunmerry GAA jersey and a shoe to represent her love of fashion.
“Declan, Simon, Hazel – you have lost a loving wife and a devoted and loving mother, and John and Amy, Lorna’s parents you have lost a devoted and loving daughter,” Fr Horneck said, as he concluded the service.
“And you Ruth, Jim, Brian and Ronan – you have lost a loving sister.”
After the service, the Carty family lay Lorna to rest in nearby Retaine Cemetery.
Lorna’s funeral marks the final one of the Irish victims of the Tunisia shooting – as Larry and Martina Hayes were buried on Friday.
