A memorial service for four young women killed in a car crash on Tuesday night has heard that "a cloud hangs over Carlow this week; heavy and grey, and heartbreaking".
The private service took place at Carlow Cathedral this afternoon.
Ashling Middleton, 19, from Coney Meadows, Coneyboro, Athy; Niamh Doyle, 19, from Mount Leinster Park, Carlow Town; Gemma Nolan, 19, from Idrone Park, Tullow Road, Carlow Town; and Chermaine Carroll, 20, from Dolmen Heights, Pollerton, Co Carlow, died in the crash.
Nearly 1,000 pupils from the girls' former school, St Leo's College, attended today's service, which was carried live on the diocesan website.
Teachers, family friends, and members of the Middleton, Nolan, Doyle and Carroll families were also in attendance.
The four women were killed and a fifth was seriously injured when their car collided with a van near Athy, Co Kildare.
The women, who were all college students, were passengers in a car that collided with a van near Burtown House, Irishtown on the N78.
Their funerals will take place tomorrow and on Saturday.
The service opened with students singing the hymn 'Be not afraid'.
The celebrant said all those present were gathered as a community, which is "in deep shock and deep mourning".
Those gathered heard how the young women embraced life and all its challenges.
The priest said: "St Leo's was richer for their presence and poorer for their loss."
St Leo's College Principal Clare Ryan said: "Gemma, Chermaine, Ashling and Niamh were beautiful girls, full of craic and goodness.
"They will always be in the tapestry of St Leo's."
A piece called Dreams, that Ashling Middleton wrote in the yearbook, and the words of Bob Dylan 'Forever Young', were read in their memory.
Ms Ryan said the young women "will never be forgotten ... forever in our hearts".
She described the journey the community must now continue on as "the loneliest I have ever been on".
Nuala Kennedy, who was year head for the girls while at school, lit four candles at the beginning of the service.
Another candle was lit for Dayna Kearney, the 20-year-old driver of the car, from Carlow, who is being treated for serious injuries at Tallaght Hospital.
Two men in the van were also injured and treated at Naas General Hospital.
Cause of crash being investigated
In a separate development, gardaí have confirmed that they are investigating the possibility that a blowout on one of the tyres of the car, in which the women were travelling, may have caused the accident.
Gardaí said they do not know yet if the blowout happened before the accident, or as a result of the collision with a van that was travelling in the opposite direction.
Gardaí are appealing for any driver who may have passed or seen the 01-D reg Silver Volkswagen Polo in the minutes before the crash.
They also want to talk to any passengers on board a Bus Éireann bus that stopped at the scene shortly after the accident.
Gardaí said forensic investigators are examining all possible causes for the crash, but they do not believe that the car was overtaking at the time.
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