Funeral of Rose Byrne hears she had ‘a heart which only ever leaked with love’

Rose Byrne, who died following a road traffic collision close to her Buncrana home, was “everything a wife and mother granny and great-granny should be,” her funeral has been told.

The 86-year-old from Millbrae died on Sunday in Letterkenny University Hospital following a road traffic collision at Main Street in the town on January 14.

The requiem Mass of the mother of six, grandmother to 16 and great grandmother to four,  took place at St Mary’s Oratory in Buncrana on Wednesday.

Buncrana parish priest Fr Francis Bradley told mourners that she was born Rose Gallagher in Newtowncunningham in 1938 and as a child lived in different locations in south Inishowen.

A nanny for the McIvor family in Derry, she later worked in the pharmacy they owned in Burnfoot. She married school teacher Thomas Byrne in 1962 and they eventually settled in “the tight-knit community” of Millbrae after living in Muff, Drumfries, Bridgend and Burt. 

“Rose was everything a wife and mother, granny and great-granny should be,” Fr Bradley said.  “She was the real deal -  a great cook, a creative baker, a world-class knitter.” 

She had “a heart which only ever leaked with love” and  “adored her grandchildren and great-grandchildren almost as much as they adored her”.

Ms Byrne, he said, has left them “an abiding legacy of good example which they are following and would do well to keep following all throughout their lives”.

A happy woman, she loved country and western music and would sing “all the time”.

Fr Bradley said she was “never, never cross, always soft” and never scolded her children or raised her voice. After losing her son Thomas, despite “the pain of loss that only a mother can feel, she put on a brave face and kept the focus on everyone else”.

She is survived by husband Thomas, children John, Valerie McMackin, Stella Lynch, Dermot and Emer Porter and siblings Adeline Browne, Brendan and Martin Gallagher and was predeceased by her son Thomas and brothers Jim and Joe Gallagher. Her burial took place at Burt cemetery. 

Meanwhile, gardaí are continuing to appeal for witnesses to the collision to come forward. Road users who were travelling at Main Street, Buncrana, between 2pm and 3pm on Tuesday, January 14 are urged to contact gardaí if they have any information or dash-cam footage. Anyone with information is asked to contact Buncrana garda station on 074 932 0540, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.