Girlfriend of Berkeley victim: ‘I know you will live on in my heart’

The funeral of 21-year-old Eoghan Culligan has taken place this afternoon in Rathfarnham.

Eoghan died in Berkeley, California along with five others when the fourth-floor balcony they were standing on at a 21st birthday party collapsed.

An alumnus of St Mary's College in Rathmines, current pupils from the school provided a guard of honour along with Eoghan's team-mates from Ballyboden St Enda’s GAA club.

During the ceremony, his parents, brothers and friends all spoke movingly. And Eoghan's girlfriend, 20-year-old Sarah McCarthy, a young woman who had attended the nearby Loreto Beaufort secondary school, brought much of the congregation to tears.

Reading aloud a poem she penned herself, she said would mourn the “future we could have had and the memories we could have made”.

She said: "I'll miss our walks in Dun Laoghaire to catch the sun set and I'll miss our ritual of a cup of tea and a biscuit every night after dinner.

"I'll miss the dinner dates and cheeky pints… the hungover days of eating McDonalds for breakfast and Dominoes for dinner.

"I'll miss our seasonal trips to Vienna to visit Andy and T, our walks in Marley Park and how we'd Facetime each other every night before bed.

"I'll also miss texting you every second of the day and how we were the only ones who understood what real music was. 

"I'll miss the way you never left my side and when it was time to say goodbye you'd hug me so tight, tell me how much you loved me and then say goodnight.

"I'll miss you waiting on me patiently without any fuss and how you always made sure I knew no one else in the world mattered except us.

"I'll miss hearing you tell me how amazing we were and how we were put on this earth to be with each other.

"I'll miss how much you loved and the future we could have had and the memories we could have made.

"My soulmate was taken from me but I know you will live on in my heart every day and that you will guide me every step of the way."

Eoghan Culligan's brothers, Stephen and Andy, also addressed the hundreds of mourners in attendance. 

"He was always the one who saw both the common ground and the stupidity of our arguments. He was our translator, our sense-maker, our peacemaker, He was our wiser brother," Stephen said.

Andy said he brought the other brothers closer together as the family grew older, adding: "What's been very apparent to me over the last few days… Eoghan would always be the person I could rely on.

"He was my little brother but he was my big brother at the same time."

Afterwards, Eoghan, a former student at DIT, was brought to Mount Jerome Cemetery for burial.