Ratoath bids farewell to Emma Mhic Mhathuna

On any other day, with unnatural temperatures for October, Emma Mhic Mhathuna would probably have been playing with her children on the Ballydavid beach at the very tip of the Dingle Peninsula, or around the stonewalled green fields in Baile na nGall in that remote part of Kerry.
Instead, her family of young children were hundreds of miles from home, gathered around Emma in her aunt's house on the outskirts of suburban Ratoath village, preparing to say a final farewell to the 37 year-old who died on Sunday after a very high profile battle with cancer.
There was a surreal quietness at the heart of the Foxbrook Estate on the Curraha Road, where the houses face onto a well maintained green area. This morning, in the heat of the sun, the silence is only broken by some of the youngsters in the Moran family exploring the four motorbikes of the Garda Traffic Corp parked outside their family home, where Emma was lying in repose at the home of her aunt and uncle, Elaine and John Moran.
Neighbours stand in discreet, quiet gatherings around the green area, some children in their school uniforms. Others stand at the doors to their homes, as the gardai and undertaker Adrian McEntaggart plan their route into Dublin's Pro-Cathedral and onto Laraghbrien Cemetery in Maynooth, where Emma is to be laid to rest alongside her mother.

Emma's remains leave her aunt's home at Foxbrook.

A village Facebook post had asked that if in the area, people could form a guard of honour along the route from Foxbrook to the SuperValu junction, turning left along main street, past the church and on to the M2, Ashbourne roundabout.
“Maybe carry a flower or foliage from your garden,” the post invited.
Ratoath didn't let Emma down. From the entrance to the Foxbrook Estate, to a gathering at the cemetery junction, people stood outside their homes, some with their dogs, most holding a bloom from their garden. 
As the gardai escorted the hearse and three black limousines through the village, the cortege passed a large crowd gathered in the centre, all paying their tribute to the lady whose battle had brought the CervicalCheck controversy to such public awareness.

Locals in Ratoath form a guard of honour at the cemetery junction.

Many had taken time off work, or school, to be there. Some motorists were not aware that Emma's remains had reposed in the village overnight, stopping to ask who had died. A sadness fell over their faces when they realised they had just met Emma on her final journey.
Poignantly, the cortege passed by the local Centra Store, the centre of a huge community effort as Ratoath prepares for a major cancer fundraising walk on 14th October. This year, the cancer fundraiser will take on an even greater meaning in the village.