“CONOR CAME into this world as unexpected as he left,” a heartbroken Angela Byrne told the Funeral Mass of her 14-year-old son on Sunday.
“For those of you who don’t know, I didn’t know I was pregnant with Conor until I went into labour,” she said.
“Myself and his Daddy were of course totally shocked – we couldn’t believe this baby had suddenly been dropped into our lives. As life always was with Conor, the house was chaos. Conor always had that effect on us.”
Mrs. Byrne said she struggled to get to grips with her new-found parenthood at first, but her Mum, the late Eileen Leacy, was her “Angel on Earth”.
She said her beloved mother, who also passed away in a car accident in 2006, always helped at the drop of a hat and gave much-needed advice, and she paid tribute to her at the Mass for this.
“Of course, Conor grew up so quickly,” she added. “He grew into a young man in the blink of an eye.”
Mrs. Byrne said he idolised his Dad Colm, always asking him questions and he would lie on his chest when watching TV, even up to the age of 12.
“He would be crushing him but Colm didn’t complain. He loved being close to his boy too,” she said.
She said that at night, when going to bed, Conor would give his Dad a big bear hug: “I’d say, ‘what about me!? Daddy gets all the hugs’ and he’d reply, ‘good night auld one! Love you!”
Mrs. Byrne described her son as a typical teenager – he loved listening to music in his room and playing the Playstation, and was constantly badgering her about the dinner being ready.
She said he loved his family, and had a special bond with his uncle Billy, who was more like a brother, and the pair would be always watching TV, wrestling and messing and drinking tea and chatting together.
Mrs. Byrne spoke about Conor’s deep passion for hurling and said his teammates at Oulart the Ballagh GAA Club were also more like his brothers.
“When they wear the black and red in future, I know Conor will be there with them in spirit, cheering them on,” she said.
With great emotion, the shattered mother concluded: “Although he will leave myself and Colm broken-hearted and devastated forever, I wouldn’t swap the 14 years of happiness and joy that Conor brought to our lives for the world.
“The beautiful young man he had grown into made us as proud as it gets. We will think about him, talk about him and love him for the rest of our days.”
