Funerals held for youngest victim of Ireland petrol station disaster and her father

Creeslough priest John Joe Duffy said Robert and Shauna Garwe had lived side by side and he prayed they were side by side in heaven

The funerals of Robert Garwe, 50 and his daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe, five, were held at St. Michaels Church, Cresslough in Donegal, Ireland. Getty Images

Funeral masses have been held for the youngest victim of the Donegal petrol station tragedy and her father, who died together as they were buying a birthday cake for her mother.

Robert Garwe and his daughter Shauna, 5, were the last victims to be buried in Creeslough, a village in the shadow of the Derryveagh Mountains that has been transformed by the disaster which killed 10 people.

Even by the standards of grief endured by villagers over recent days, the sight of Shauna's tiny wicker casket being carried into St Michael's church seemed for many to be close to unbearable.

In a village of just 400 people, everyone knows everyone, and they have all carried the burden of grief. Most of the victims lived here. The others were known to people here.

The strain has been evident at times on the face of Father John Joe Duffy, on whom the weight of responsibility for leading most of the services has fallen.

Two hearses arrived at the church side by side on Saturday. Fr Duffy said they had lived side by side and he prayed they were side by side in heaven.

Fr Duffy told mourners: “Side by side here, we pray that they are side by side in heaven”.

He offered their “most sincere sympathies” to Garwe's partner Aine “on the death of your partner and your beautiful daughter”, and welcomed family members who had travelled to the service, including some from Zimbabwe.

Symbols representing different aspects of Garwe, 50, and Shauna's lives were present, including a scooter “which was very much part and parcel of their lives”.

“I'm not sure who could go fastest on the scooter, but I know on feet, Shauna could outrun her dad, be it at the school gate, be it on the road where I so often saw them and met them, or be it in the shop where she helped to stack the shelves with the girls,” Fr Duffy told mourners.

“The heartbreak is so visible in our eyes, the eyes of people emanating.

“We are gathered here this morning, once again, to say farewell to a father and his beloved and much loving beautiful little girl.”

Garwe was remembered as being proud of his Zimbabwean roots and being proud of his children.

Fr Duffy said: “I often talked with Bob … he just had that friendliness, keeping fit and keeping well was so important to him, and he had that beautiful love for little Shauna.”

He described Shauna as someone who “loved to entertain” as he read from a poem written in tribute to her.

“Shauna could always be heard with a giggle, and when sitting down she sure did like to wiggle,” the priest said.

“On her pink scooter she would come to the gate, with Kylo in tow, her little dog mate. So chatty and bubbly she just loved to play and have fun with her friends each and every day.”

Irish President Michael D Higgins was among the mourners on Saturday — the sixth funeral service in St Michael's for victims of the tragedy in five days.

The funerals of fashion student Jessica Gallagher, 24, and Martin McGill, 49, were held in Creeslough on Tuesday, while a funeral mass for Catherine O'Donnell, 39, and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan took place on Wednesday afternoon and the funeral of Sydney native James O'Flaherty, 48, was held on Wednesday in Derrybeg.

The funeral of shop worker and mother-of-four Martina Martin, 49, took place in Creeslough on Thursday morning, with a service for 14-year-old Leona Harper held at St Mary's Church in Ramelton later that day.

Ireland's police force An Garda Siochana continues to investigate the cause of the blast, which is being treated as an accident.