Meghan described as "angel" and "superhero"

The funeral of the young Athboy nurse who was killed in an accident on Holy Saturday morning heard her described as "an angel" and "a superhero" "who brought care and comfort to people at their most vulnerable moments, in sickness in suffering."

Twenty six year old Meghan Mallee of Gilltown Little was killed in a single-vehicle collision just outside Rathmore in the early hours of Holy Saturday morning.

Meghan worked as a nurse at Our Lady's Hospital in Navan and worked in the Covid isolation unit in Navan during the pandemic.

Her funeral mass at St James' Church, Athboy heard Meghan brought “light, laughter and love” everywhere she went.

Fr Padraig McMahon said “Meghan was one of those superheroes the then Taoiseach spoke about at the beginning of the nightmare of Covid. One who wore scrubs,”.

“And we will never know how many or whose lives she touched in that role. It would be nice to think this morning that those who are still alive because of her work would now pray for her and more importantly for her parents and sister. And for those who did not live, it would be nice to think that they were there ready to welcome her to God's house on Holy Saturday morning.”

Fr McMahon noted over the past week "angel" was a word used by so many people to describe Meghan.

"An angel who brought care and comfort to people at their most vulnerable moments, in sickness in suffering. And particularly in recent times during what has been the most challenging of years in all our lifetimes. Meghan's work in the COVID isolation unit in our lady's Hospital in Navan cannot have been easy for her. Mairead and Jimmie have explained to me the routine and regime that she lived with every day she came home from work, keeping herself more importantly her family free of sickness. She brought that same care and that same comfort in every ward that she worked in."

He said it was impossible for any one of us to make sense of what happened.

"If there are words to be spoken on a day like this, then maybe two words are appropriate. Thank you. Thank you Meghan. For the light for the laughter and for the love that you brought to everyone who knew and loved you. And thank you to from all the people for whom you cared in your work as a nurse for too short a time. Thank you for making the world brighter, happier and better for your being here."

He said Meghan had shared journeys of many people who were distraught, who were sick, who were in pain, who were at the bedside of someone they loved who was about to leave this life.

"She did that as a gifted and talented and compassionate, caring and loving young nurse.

"It has been a long week, a long week for Meghan's family. Everything about their lives has changed. Awful events on Saturday morning mean that nothing will ever be the same again."

Items to represent her life on display on the memory table during the mass included pictures of friends and family, a teddy she brought everywhere, her nurses uniform and a board game she loved to play with family.

Meghan is survived by her parents Mairéad and Jimmie, sister Naoimh, uncles, aunts, cousins, work colleagues, and a large circle of friends.