'Magnetism' of Alana Harkin recalled at Funeral Mass

‘Magnetic’ Alana Harkin was remembered as someone everyone was drawn to.

The 18-year-old, who was tragically killed in a in a single-vehicle crash near Gleneely, was laid to rest following her Funeral Mass at St Mary’s Church, Bocan on Friday.

On a chilly morning in Culdaff village, an Irish tricolour hung forlornly at half-mast. Hundreds of mourners packed St Mary’s Church and hundreds more lined the sides of the R238, just a few miles from where tragedy struck as Sunday night moved into Monday morning.

The 18-year-old’s remains were taken into St Mary’s Church to the words of Amazing Grace, the song inspired by and composed in Inishowen by John Newton in the 18th century.

Members of Gleneely Colts FC provided a guard of honour at the Church while former schoolmates at Carndonagh Community School were among the mourners.

Chief Concelebrant, the retired parish priest Fr Jim McGonagle, told how he baptised Alana and  blessed her at Altnagelvin hospital when she was born three months premature in 2005. Fr McGonagle later administered the sacraments of Baptism, First Confession, First Communion and Confirmation to Alana.

Her heartbroken father, Patrick, read an extract from a story written by Alana in which she told how she weighed less than a bag of sugar when she was born.

Alana’s sister Shauna, who read one of the Prayers of the Faithful, said: “My daughter Anna also loved her so much but I will make sure her memory is kept alive in my little family forever.”

Fr McGonagle was accompanied by Fr Kevin Doherty, Fr Edward Kilpatrick and Fr Karl Haan for a service that remembered a young girl who left an indelible mark on all who encountered her.

Gifts were brought to the altar included a guitar, cowboy boots to signify her recent-found love of line dancing and a vinyl record.

Her fondness for Harry Styles was signified by a One Direction pillow and a poetry book from Ms Grace Crossan, her former English teacher at Carndonagh Community School, where she sat her Leaving Certificate just five months ago, was also brought forward.

A series of photographs of Alana with her beloved family and friends at the altar as loved ones hugged tightly.

“Everyone was drawn towards her, young and old,” Fr McGonagle said, adding that the word best used to describe her was ‘magnetisim’.

“She was a live wire, a pocket dynamo, a ball of fire, a prankster.

“She was also a beautiful singer, and had the role of Gretl in the school production of Sound of Music. She was a good actor, you didn’t know if she was acting the clown or being serious.”

Alana worked at Simpson’s Bar and Restaurant in Carndonagh and her uniform was carried up by manager Liam Farren. For Halloween, Alana dressed up as Liam; a picture of the occasion accompanied her work clothes.

Fr McGonagle said: “If we could see Alana’s life not as life interrupted but rather as a life completed it might help us to gain strength for the future, because we all do have a future, there is still a life to be lived.

“After I retired I hadn’t seen her for a few years until one day I was at a funeral dinner in Simpsons and this lassie landed in my arms, as lively as ever.”

Fr McGonagle said that the accidental death of an 18-year-old girl, is very hard to take for those left behind, “specially when that young person had a world at her feet with all kinds of dreams and hope for the future”.

Prayers were said for Thomas Gallagher, the other 18-year-old who died in the collision, and for the first responders who attended at the scene of the accident. He also thanked the locals who ‘opened their hearts and their homes’ to the bereaved families at the scene.

He said: “We can only guess that the turmoil going on in the minds of Karen, Patrick, Collum, Shauna and Shay, her close family and friends and classmates. Our very presence here today and the numbers that turned up for her homecoming and at the wake is an assurance to you that you are not on your own.”