Hundreds are expected to attend the funeral of a tragic young Donegal woman killed in a freak accident in Australia.
Mary Ellen Molloy, 26, died on December 20 when a large branch fell from a tree onto her taxi in Melbourne.
The young nurse was killed while another one of her friends was injured and a third escaped without injury.
Mary Ellen's remains have been repatriated to her native Ardara where her funeral will be held later this week.
A death notice on RIP.ie reads: "Deeply regretted by her loving parents Terence and Angela, brothers John Ross and Karl Joseph, grandmother Mary Angela, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family and her many friends."
Mary Ellen's wake will be held at the home of her parents in Edergole on Wednesday, January 1, from 1pm to 11pm.
A Requiem Mass will take place on Thursday, January 2, at 12 noon in the Church of the Holy Family, Ardara with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery.
Mourners are advised that there will be parking facilities at the Chapel Car Park, John Molloy’s Knitwear and Larry Snacks (Killybegs Road, Ardara). Buses will be provided and mourners are asked to please avail of this service.
The family have requested family flowers only but donations if desired, may be made to The Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust, c/o Patrick Sweeney Funeral Directors, Moyle Hill, Milford, Letterkenny Co. Donegal.
Tributes have been flooding in for the young woman since news of her death broke.
A friend of Mary Ellen’s said: “She had a wonderful personality who could light up a room with her smile.
“She was lovely inside and out and this a terrible blow to her family at this time of the year.”
A tribute from CLG Ard an Ratha, the GAA club in Ardara, read: “We awaken today as a Parish, numbed by the news from Australia of the death of Mary Ellen Molloy in Melbourne yesterday evening.
“Mary Ellen was a beautiful girl with a permanent smile who lit up every room she walked into.
“Her love for her family was always so evident whenever they were together, and we can only imagine the grief that Terence, Angela, John Ross, Karl Joseph and the Molloy and Gillespie families are feeling at this time.
“As a community we have lost yet another shining light and as ever, we will do whatever we can to assist them at this terrible time.
“God bless everyone who knew and loved the beautiful girl from Edergole.
“God rest you Mary Ellen x.”
Mary’s parents Terrence and Angela Molloy own the Blue Haven Hotel in Kilcar and she was a past pupil of Glenties Comprehensive School.
The large Molloy family are very well known in GAA and business circles in Ardara and the wider south west Donegal areas.
The Royal Hospital Melbourne released a statement overnight.
It read: “We are supporting the family and colleagues of one of our nurses who tragically died when a tree fell on her car.
“We send our deepest sympathies to the nurse’s family and friends, who are grieving over this heartbreaking loss.”
