The mother of Nicole Murphy has spoken of her family's "broken dreams and broken hearts" in the aftermath of the teenager's tragic death.
Nicole died along with Zoey Coffey and Grace McSweeney, both aged 18, and Grace's 24-year-old brother Luke after their car overturned and crashed into a wall last Friday in Clonmel, Co Tipperary.
She was laid to rest following funeral mass at St John the Baptist Church in Kilcash.
Mourners were led by her parents, Serena and Declan, her sister Zoe and her brother Ryan.
Serena Murphy described her daughter as "the light of our lives" and said that their 18 years with her had been "amazing".
"We always told her how she lit up a room when she walked in," she told mourners.
"She was the life and soul of our family, especially at Christmas. In fact, she was the boss of Christmas.
"She told us when and how to decorate the tree, and sometimes those decorations never came down.
"I remember she would stare at the angel on the top of the tree and admire how beautiful it was.
"Now she is our beautiful little angel. We would like to ask you when you are putting an angel on top of your Christmas tree this year will you please think and pray for our angel Nikki, that she is somewhere more beautiful than any Christmas she can think of.
"We only had Nikki for 18 years but they were amazing. She was so caring and too good for this world. I was so lucky to have been her mother and I thank God every day for giving her to me.
"We wish we could have had her for eternity but now she will live in our hearts forever."
The three girls were on their way to celebrate their Leaving Cert results whe n the crash occurred.
Ms Murphy spoke of the moment her daughter received her Leaving Certificate results on the morning of the fatal crash.
"She got 531 points. She was so thrilled. She couldn't believe what she had gotten. She triple-checked them. At one point she even thought she was in someone else's account," she said.
"She never truly believed in herself until that moment and she started to believe she could achieve her goals in life. We went out to breakfast that morning and we were sitting at the table planning her future.
"Nikki was planning to go to Cork to study midwifery but her end goal was radiography. She dreamt of that job since she was a little girl but never believed she could reach that goal."
Ms Murphy continued: "I just want to finish by saying God bless the families of Luke, Grace (McSweeney) and Zoey (Coffey), and that we may find peace after this tragedy.
"God bless my beautiful baby girl that was my best friend and may she still be following her dreams somewhere more beautiful than here. We pray that God will take her into his loving arms now and love her just as much as we do."
The song A Million Dreams was played as Nicole's coffin was carried out of the church and onward for burial after the service.
'A testament and tribute'
Guards of honour were provided outside by many schoolmates from the Loreto Secondary School in Clonmel, where Nicole received her Leaving Cert results last Friday.
Parish priest of Kilsheelan-Kilcash Fr Brian Power described Nikki, as she was known, as "a gift" to her family and said her family were a gift to her.
"We are here in the church where so many of the joyful occasions of Nikki's short life took place. She was baptised here in Kilcash church, made her first Holy Communion here and was Confirmed here by Bishop Alphonsus."
Fr Power said the presence of so many young people at the funeral is "a testament and tribute to the wonderful person that she was, and the great love and esteem that so many had for her".
President Michael D Higgins, the Taoiseach's Aide-de-Camp, Commandant Claire Mortimer, Minister for Education Norma Foley, Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan of the Waterford and Lismore diocese, and Mayor of Clonmel Cllr Richie Molloy, along with many relatives, friends and members of the community, were among those who attended the funeral.
Members of the McSweeney and Coffey families were also present.
The funeral mass for Grace and Luke McSweeney will take place tomorrow morning at St Peter and Paul's Church in Clonmel, followed by burial in St Patrick's Cemetery.
Zoey Coffey will be laid to rest in St Patrick's Cemetery, following funeral mass on Saturday morning, also at St Peter and Paul's Church.
Additional reporting PA
