Updated 9.44pm
THE FUNERAL OF Eoghan and Ruairi Chada has taken place in the Carlow village of Ballinkillen today with an entire community uniting in grief at the tragic loss of the two brothers.
The mass was held at St Lazieran’s Church in the boys’ home town with hundreds turning out on a bright, sunny day as the two brothers, in separate white coffins, were brought through the town to the church for the funeral mass.
Eoghan, 10, and Ruairi, 5, were found dead in a car in Westport, Co Mayo earlier this week. Their father, Sanjeev, has been charged with their murders.
“Every day the boys lived with joy and energy, and they loved their Mam and Dad deeply,” Father Declan Foley, the local parish priest, said in his homily.
He described how the boys had their own rooms but always slept together. He said they were deeply embedded in the local GAA and soccer clubs.
“[They] were extremely talented players with very bright futures,” the priest said.
“Their deaths have stunned the whole community but particularly the parents of their classmates, and their big concern was how they were going to tell their own children this sad news.”
He said the community had been left blessed by the presence of the Chada brothers.
Separately, Sanjeev Chada appeared in court in Harristown in Co Roscommon earlier today and was remanded in custody for two weeks to appear again on 16 August, RTÉ reports.
First published 5.10pm
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