A NURSE who was killed in a hit-and-run crash is to be laid to rest this coming Wednesday morning (February 18).
Áine O’Reilly, aged in her 30s, of Pallasgreen, County Limerick, was described as a “dedicated carer” and a “beautiful young lady” whose “kindness, compassion, sense of humour” made her one in a million.
Ms O’Reilly had been driving to work at after-hours GP service Shannondoc in Limerick City last Friday night (February 13) when her car was struck by a hit-and-run driver.
She died instantly in the collision, which occurred on the N24, a short distance from her family home in Pallasgreen.
The male driver of the car that collided with Ms O’Reilly’s car fled the scene. Gardaí said they were following “a definite line of enquiry” in respect of the motorist.
A man who was driving a third car, also caught up in the collision, was treated at University Hospital Limerick for non-life-threatening injuries.
Ms Reilly will repose at Ryan and White’s funeral home in Pallasgreen from 5pm to 7pm on Tuesday.
Funeral Mass will take place at 11.30am on Wednesday at St John the Baptist Church in Nicker, followed by burial at St Columba’s Cemetery in Pallasgreen.
Áine is survived by her parents Eugene and Ann, brothers Eoin, James, and Conor, nephew Dáire, sister-in-law Aisling, aunts and uncles, and a wide network of family and friends.
Ms O’Reilly followed her parents footsteps into the public service, her father, Eugene, a retired Garda, and her mother, Ann, a retired teacher. She was dedicated to helping others through her work, her former football coach, Noreen Stokes, said.
“It is a huge shock, there is a huge cloud over the community. Áine was a young lady going to do her job in a caring profession as a nurse, and for her life to be cut down like that is a serious tragedy,” said Ms Stokes, a local teacher and elected member of Limerick City and County Council.
Paying tribute, Cllr Stokes said that “Áine always came across as a very quiet and refined lady, and obviously with the profession that she took on, those qualities came out. She went into a profession to care and look after people to the best of her ability.”
“Any time I ever met her in her adult years she always had a quiet smile.”
Cllr Stokes said that “there’s a lot of questions to be asked and lots of answers to be found, it’s such a shock for any Garda to come to their door and tell them that their daughter has been killed.”
“The family played key roles in the community and the community will do its best to try to support them throughout and beyond this awful tragedy.”
Ms Stokes said that “Áine was young lady who left her family to go to work, like many of us do, but we do expect to come home.”
Paying tribute, mourners described the late Pallasgreen woman as “a beautiful young lady” and “gentle soul” who was “gone from this life way too soon”.
A college friend of the late nurse wrote: “I will always remember her kindness and warm, friendly smile.”
A former colleague, who trained with Ms O’Reilly at the Mater Hospital, described her as “a kind, gentle, caring person. It was a pleasure to have known her.”
A post from her former secondary school, St Anne’s, said she was “remembered fondly”.
“It was an absolute privilege to call Áine a friend from our first days in secondary school right through to nursing in UCD. Aine’s kindness, compassion, sense of humour, direct fashion and beauty advice, and love for her family and animals made her one in a million,” another mourner wrote.