Funeral is held for teenager, 18, who died alongside four other boys in head-on crash when they drove car wrong-way on Irish motorway

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 07:27 EDT, 24 August 2026 | Updated: 07:41 EDT, 24 August 2026 An 18-year-old boy who died alongside four of his friends during a head-on crash on an Irish motorway was laid to rest today amid by heavy security. Jeremy O'Brien became the fourth of the five joyriders to be laid to rest in a funeral in Carlow Town. Police set up several checkpoints around The Holy Family Church prior to the service and stationed a public order unit nearby amid concerns over possible disorder. Mr O'Brien died alongside Jack Kennedy, Kamil Pustkowski, Joe Carthy and Alex McCarthy when the car they were travelling in was driven the wrong way down the M9 and was involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle.The funeral of Jack, a 17-year-old from Athy in Co Kildare, is expected to take place tomorrow.A child and three women from the same family, who were in the other car, are being treated for serious injuries in hospital. The family were on the way to Dublin Airport for a holiday.Today, a horse-drawn carriage arrived at the church to carry the coffin following the funeral mass. Young men watched on wearing T-shirts with a picture of Mr O'Brien emblazoned on the front.Father Tom Little told mourners that there is a 'deep sense of sadness and loss'. Jeremy O'Brien's cousin wrote in tribute: 'RIP to my cousin. [He] was like a brother. [May] God give you the bed in heaven, you'll be missed''We pray for those who have been injured and mourn those who have died,' he said in his homily. The death of a young person is always difficult to accept.'There is something especially sad about a young life being taken suddenly, unexpectedly and before so many hopes and dreams have been realised.'Today our grief and sadness is made even heavier because this was an accident that affected not just one person alone.'Several lives have been lost and others have been seriously injured. Families have been changed forever.' Father Little asked mourners to think of the families of Ella Hendricken and Niamh and Alma Kinsella, who were left seriously injured after they were struck by the teenagers' car. A seven-year-old boy - a son of one of the sisters - was also badly injured. 'There are people in hospital fighting to recover, and there are families who are beginning the painful journey of learning to live with an empty place at their table,' he said. 'At times like this we are left with no words to express our sadness and loss. Today, we give thanks for the gift of life, however short it may have been.'Among those prayed for were the doctors and nurses caring for those who were injured in the accident, wishing them a 'full and speedy recovery'.