‘Her smile would light up any room’ – Tributes pour in as Chloe McGee, 23, laid to rest after Louth crash tragedy

President Catherine Connolly was among the hundreds of mourners who gathered to remember the tragic young woman
HEARTBREAKING tributes have poured in for a young teacher who died along with her four friends in a crash in Co Louth last week.

Chloe McGee, 23, from Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, died along with her boyfriend Alan McCluskey, 23, from Drumconrath.

Five youngsters, all under 25, lost their lives in the tragedy last Saturday, with the other casualties being Shay Duffy, 21, from Carrickmacross, Dylan Commins, 23, from Ardee, Co Louth, and Chloe Hipson, 21, from Lanarkshire in Scotland.

The pals died after their VW Golf was involved in a collision with a Toyota Land Cruiser on a stretch of road near Dundalk, Co Louth, last Saturday night.

President Catherine Connolly was among the hundreds of mourners who gathered to remember the tragic young woman at St. Joseph’s Church in Carrickmacross.

The local priest told mourners how the community has been left in shock since the “tragedy struck”.

He said: “To Chloe’s parents, Ciaran and Eileen, we know that your hearts are broken, almost ripped from you these last six, seven days. 

“Parents shouldn’t have to bury a child, it’s the wrong order.”

The priest said it’s been a “rollercoaster of emotions” for all the families since the accident. 

He continued: “I want to welcome today too members of the McCluskey family, the Hipson family, the Duffy family and the Commins family who have joined us here today.

“It’s tremendous courage that you are showing. We appreciate your presence as you make that most terrible and difficult of journeys.

“We want to welcome too AJ and his family. We pray for you AJ that you may recover from your injuries and recover from the trauma that you are experiencing.

“We pray too today for the other young couple who were involved in the accident the other evening that they too may recover from this most traumatic of experiences.”

Some symbols representing Chloe’s life were brought to the altar including a family photograph, a photo of her boyfriend Alan, her passport, keys, a jersey, a cowboy hat, her hairdressing tunic and a bird house.

Mourners heard how Chloe was a “bubbly” woman with a “smile that would light up any room”.

The priest said: “Speaking to Chloe’s friends this week, we get an impression of a bubbly character, infectious laughter, smiles that could light up any room.

“By good fortune, she got her mother’s looks and her dad’s gift for the gab. She had a quick retort, a funny and witty remark.”