Tributes have been paid to a Kerry teenager who died in a tragic horse-riding accident. Isabelle O’Callaghan, a 17-year-old student at St Brigid’s Secondary School in Killarney, was riding at her home in the Rockfield area just outside the Co. Kerry town when the accident happened on Thursday.
Ms O’Callaghan – whose well-known family runs Killarney Coaches – was remembered as ‘lovely and kind’, and as a ‘talented and beautiful girl, who was always smiling’.
‘Isabelle will be sadly missed by her heartbroken parents, brother, grandparents Seán, Monica and Jimmy, her aunts and uncles, cousins, relatives, neighbours and many friends,’ the teenager’s funeral notice reads. ‘She will be deeply missed by her parents Eamon and Deirdre and brother James.’
One of Ms Callaghan’s former teachers said: ‘I had the privilege of teaching Isabelle. It was always a pleasure to have her in my class. May Isabelle’s gentle soul rest in eternal peace.’
Councillor Niall Kelleher said the O’Callaghan family were well-known as the owners of Killarney Coaches. ‘It’s devastating. We all give our condolences to the O’Callaghan family and my thoughts and prayers go out to them at this extremely difficult time,’ he said.
Killarney councillor Martin Grady said it was difficult to put the scale of the loss into words. ‘This is a well-respected local family and it’s terrible for them to lose a daughter and a sister like this. A girl lost her life far too young; she had her whole life ahead of her,’ he said.
‘There’s a black cloud over the whole town. She passed away in a tragic accident doing something she was very passionate about. It’s a nightmare for any parent. As a father myself my heart goes out to the parents and the extended family. It will be incredibly difficult for all her school friends too, to cope with a sudden loss like this at that age.’
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The Kingdom Pony Club said yesterday: ‘It is with the heaviest heart that we learned of our friend and pony club member Izzy O’Callaghan passing.
‘Words are hard to find to express our shock and sorrow at the loss of such a beautiful young lady, inside and out. Our thoughts and prayers go to her bereft parents and family.’
Other pony clubs also shared tributes. Scarteen Hunt Pony Club said a dressage and show-jumping event tomorrow will go ahead. Competitors can ‘wear a green ribbon on their lapel in Izzy’s memory’.
Fr Kieran O’Brien of St Mary’s Cathedral, Killarney, said the town was shocked that the life of a young woman was cut tragically short while she was ‘doing something she loved’.
Her funeral Mass takes place at St Mary’s Cathedral at midday on Monday.