An elderly lady who passed away has received a special send off from the people of her adopted home town of Carlow, after an appeal was issued on social media in recent days.

Mary Regan, a native of Adrigole, west Cork, passed away last Friday at Hillview Nursing Home in Carlow. She had no living relatives as her brothers and sister had all passed before her, as did her partner.

During her time living in Hillview, she did not receive many visitors and the absence of a next of kin after she passed away led to local funeral taker issuing an appeal on social media as part of her funeral arrangements.

Mourners of all ages responded to the Facebook post issued by funeral director Rory Healy, which highlighted the fact Mary had no family to mourn her or attend her funeral.

He asked for the people of Carlow to give her the farewell she deserved and for her not to make her leave of the town alone.

A large crowd attended Mary’s funeral mass at 9.30am in Askea Church in the town on Tuesday, with pupils from nearby Askea Boys National School also paying their respects.

Mayor of Carlow, Cllr Fintan Phelan said the public response was reflective of the strong sense of community in Carlow town.

“The response to Rory’s call this morning was phenomenal and it was so nice to see people come out to pay their respects to Mary,” he said.

“I know Rory very well and he’s an excellent undertaker who only put the call out on social media yesterday because he wanted to do his best to give her the send off she deserved. He absolutely achieved that along with all those in the local community who paid their respects at Askea Church, which is very close to the nursing home where Mary spent her final years.

“Hillview is a lovely place, and the staff there would have taken great care of Mary so I’m sure they’re also delighted with the turnout for her funeral. It goes to show that community still counts for a lot and Carlow should be very proud of what its people did today.”