Funeral details announced for young girl killed in drowning incident

Gráinne Ní Aodha and Rebecca Black, PA

Updated 18:05

Funeral details have been announced for Emili Roman who is survived by her parents Martha and Slawomir and her siblings Inga and Jeremy.

She will lie in repose at Fordes Funeral Home, Old Waterpark, Carrigaline on Friday (Sept 8th) from 5pm until 6pm.

Her requiem mass will take place on Saturday at 11.30am in the Church of Our Lady and St John, with burial following at St John’s Cemetery, Ballinrea.

The family said they would like to thank all those who assisted in the search for their daughter on Wednesday and have asked for privacy as they grieve their loss.

A major search was launched after the alarm was raised at Fountainstown Beach near Crosshaven at around 4.40pm on Tuesday, with Gardaí, the Coast Guard, the RNLI, fire services, and Mallow River Rescue involved in the effort.

Emily's body was recovered from the water at around 7.45pm.

Bishop Paul Colton, who is patron of Templebreedy National School where Emily was a second class pupil, said there is widespread devastation following the incident, remarking that she was due to turn eight on Thursday.

“The entire school community in our small Church of Ireland school in Crosshaven, Co Cork, together with the local parish and community, are in shock and are utterly devastated at the death of our second class pupil Emily Roman.

“Most of all we are all heartbroken for Emily’s family and loved ones,” Bishop Colton said.

Most of us cannot begin to imagine the suffering that this family must now be going through.

“Emily and her twin brother Jeremy have been in our school since they joined junior infants in 2020.

“Most of us cannot begin to imagine the suffering that this family must now be going through. We are all, however, in shock and devastated,” he added, offering his condolences to Emily's mother Marta, father Slawomir, and siblings, Jeremy and Inga.

Emily principal and class teacher Doris Byran described her as a kind child with a bubbly personality.

“She had a beautiful smile. She was greatly loved by everyone and was very popular with all her friends. She was also very artistic and a gifted young girl.”

Also offering her condolences to the family on behalf of the school, Ms Byran added: “We are doing our best at the moment to make our school a safe space for all our school community to be together and to support each other as we remember Emily and come to terms with what has happened.”

Earlier, Minister for Enterprise and TD for Cork South-Central Simon Coveney said the community is “broken” after Emily's death.

Speaking to the media in Co Wicklow, Mr Coveney said it has been a summer of tragic deaths.

 

“We’ve also seen, particularly in my own home city of Cork, extraordinary tragedy again in the last 24 hours in terms of the drowning of a young girl,” Mr Coveney said.

“It’s been a desperate summer in the context of tragedy involving children, both on our roads and unfortunately with water accidents as well, two of them very close to where I live.

“The community is just broken again this morning.

“On behalf of the Government, I want to say our thoughts are with the family and the community and the children who are going to school today with an empty seat.”

Last month, 14-year-old Jack O’Sullivan died after getting into difficulty while swimming at Passage West in Co Cork.

On Tuesday, a man in his 80s was taken from the water at Curracloe Beach in Co Wexford after falling ill. The pensioner was pronounced dead at the scene.

Additional reporting by Olivia Kelleher.