The story has been told of Miles ‘Miley’ Harty, a completely heartbroken bride-to-be who wore her wedding dress to her fiance’s funeral after her was killed in a car crash just hours before their ceremony.
Miles ‘Miley’ Harty was to wed Kate Quilligan, at St Munchin’s Church in Limerick, Ireland, later on the day the fatal collision occurred.
Mr Harty, 20, was a front-seat passenger in a silver coloured Skoda hatchback which left a section of the R518 Askeaton to Rathkeale road and hit a pole around 1am.
A rear seat passenger was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The driver, a man in his late teens, was arrested at the scene of the crash and questioned by Gardai before he was released without charge, pending a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
On Tuesday his heartbroken fiancé from Thomondgate, Limerick city, wore her wedding dress to say goodbye to her could-have-been hubby.
Video showed grieving Kate decked out in her white gown holding a wedding bouquet with a picture of Myles behind her.
Her dad said to the camera: “Myles this is all Kate wanted her whole life, Miley Harty. She got dressed and she is going into you one last time.”
He then says: “Miley, I will never forget you, you are the boss,” as he leans in to kiss Kate.
After he was laid to rest, devastated Kate posted on social media: “I love you forever and a day, it’s never goodbye just a see you later.
“Can’t wait for a big hug and kiss from you.”
Speaking about road safety generally yesterday, Fr Seán Ó’Longaigh told those gathered at St Mary’s Church, Askeaton: “I want to make an appeal to our young people, because accidents are avoidable; cars a wonderful gift, a great amenity, but they are also a lethal weapon.
“I remember well, when I got my first car the temptation to speed, the temptation to take risks, and, of course when you are young, you see no danger, but unfortunately, danger is there stalking us.
“And so, the plea that, I’m sure many of us here would make, is to be aware of the danger to yourself and others when you drive a car – you are all too important to us to lose you.”
Fr Ó’Longaigh told Mr Harty’s parents, Margaret and Myles Snr: “Your loss is great, nobody is really meant to bury one of their children, it’s a heart-rendering experience, but (Miley) has a cherished place in your hearts, a place he will never be displaced.
“There’s a numbness, a disbelieve, a grief that follows, and I’m sure there’s the difficulty, even still, of accepting that it has actually happened – it’s more like a bad dream.”
