'Everywhere you went, the room lit up with your beautiful smile'; Heartbroken sister of Kimberly O'Connor leads tributes

The sister of Knocknaheeny crash victim Kimberly O'Connor has described her as the most generous person who would “halve her heart with anyone”.

Her devastated sister Britney told the congregation at her funeral Mass that she wished she could trade places with Kimberly, saying that she had had her whole life ahead of her at just 16 years of age.

The transition year student from Terence McSwiney Community College was killed when the car, in which she was a passenger, collided with a wall on Harbour View Road last Wednesday night.

Emergency services were quickly at the scene but she was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

Addressing Kimberly, Britney said: “You always made everyone smile. And at home, morning, noon and night, your beautiful singing would never stop. 

"She would halve her heart with anyone. She was so generous.”

Her other sister Shannon said that from the time Kimberly could walk and talk, she was a “drama queen”, always singing and dancing.

She added: “Everywhere you went, the room lit up with your beautiful smile and infectious laugh. 

"She was the apple of my mother's eye.” 

Speaking on behalf of her mother, Shannon said Kimberly made her the proudest mother ever, and that her singing “made the hairs of her neck stand up”.

On behalf of her mother: “The pain of losing you is unbelievable” 

Fr Greg Howard said her devoted and loving mum Jennifer brought out the best in Kimberly, whose father Mark died when she was just four years old.

He added: “She encouraged Kimberly to develop her own unique gift, her exuberance in life.” 

He also remembered the two other victims of the crash, as well as her teachers and fellow students at Terence McSwiney Community College.

A male passenger who was badly injured remains seriously ill.

A third occupant of the car, the driver, presented himself at the Mercy University Hospital in the hours after the crash.

She recently returned from a volunteering trip to Kolkata with the HOPE Foundation, as part of a group of five from Terence MacSwiney Community College.

She was a transition year student at the school.

She was a previous award winner at the UCC Plus + programme in March 2018 for excellence in Maths, Gaeilge and Foreign languages.

She was also a member of Superstars Stageschool and had been involved in an exchange programme with Cooperation Ireland.

A guard of honour by her friends at Superstars was held as her coffin was brought from the church.

A garda investigation into the crash is continuing.