Published: February 23, 2012
by GEORGIA GRAHAM

HUNDREDS gathered for the funeral of Gospel Oak’s very own “Barbie Girl” Melanie McCarthy McNamara on Friday morning.

The pink coffin of the 16-year-old, who was shot dead two weeks ago just months after moving to Dublin to start a new life with her fiancé, was carried to a waiting glass carriage pulled by four white horses. Each horse was festooned with pink feathers to continue the theme of the day.

Melanie’s mother Melissa McCarthy created bright pink T-shirts upon which were printed pictures of her daughter. They were worn by family and friends at St Dominic’s Priory in Southampton Road.

The teenager, who attended Haverstock School and later Parliament Hill, was shot earlier this month as she sat in the back of a car on a housing estate in Tallaght, Dublin.

Her boyfriend Christopher Moran, who was also in the car at the time of her shooting, was in tears as he helped carry the coffin alongside pall bearers wearing pale pink shirts.

Roses were draped over pictures of Melanie in her best outfits and hugging Mr Moran.

Father Peter Harries said there was “bewilderment” in the close-knit community around St Dominic’s after one of their most popular teenagers was killed “so pointlessly, so needlessly”.

He added: “This was Melanie’s church. Only a few years ago, she celebrated her Holy Communion in this church with her family and she planned to marry her beloved Christopher.”

Melanie’s grandmother Franny, who worked in Queen’s Crescent Community Centre for 30 years, had to be escorted from the church when she became overcome with grief.

The teenager’s life was celebrated with a series of inventive floral tributes depicting her favourite things: a BlackBerry phone, a lipstick and Chanel No 5 perfume. It was friends and relatives who affectionately called her “Barbie”. Mourners also made a white Wrigley’s Spearmint gum flower arrangement and a pink floral Barbie doll.

The funeral procession, which brought the whole of Malden Road to a standstill, stopped off at a shrine to Melanie in Allcroft Road, where she had spent many years of her childhood.

The five-metre long message board read “RIP Our Baby Girl” and is covered with loving messages, pink balloons, flowers and Barbie dolls.

One of Melanie’s many relatives in the area, Christine Brody, described her as: “Happy, funny, very, very intelligent and loving life, Melanie was a golden child, her grandmother’s princess.”

Ms Brody said the loss of one of the area’s bright young teenagers had hit the community hard. She said: “Our memories are deep and we share in each other’s joy and suffer each other’s heartbreak.”

A 23-year-old man was charged with Melanie’s murder and possession of a double-barrel sawn-off shotgun on Wednesday. Keith Hall, of Kilmartin Drive, Tallaght, remains in custody pending an appearance at Cloverhill Court.

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