Mother’s words when boy’s body found: ‘He poured a lifetime of love into my life in 14 years’

Noah Donohue was an inspiration who was full of the joy of living, mourners at his funeral in Belfast have been told.
So much has been written and said about Noah that has touched the hearts of everyone in this city, Fr Michael McGinnity said.
But the words that had stayed with him, h1e said, were those of Noahs mother Fiona the day after her sons body was found.
She said, I have been so blessed. Noah was a beautiful soul with a beautiful mind. He poured a whole lifetime of love into my life in 14 short years.
Fiona Donohoe, the mother of Noah Donohoe, follows his coffin as it is carried into Saint Patricks Church in Belfast. Photograph: PA
The funeral of the 14-year-old took place at St Patricks Church in Donegall Street in central Belfast on Wednesday morning.
Due to the coronavirus restrictions, Requiem Mass was restricted to a small number of friends and family only, but more mourners gathered outside the church to pay their respects ahead of the service.
A bunch of flowers was affixed to the church railings, along with posters bearing the teenagers picture and the words Rest in Peace Noah.
The hearse was escorted by a guard of honour led by members of his former basketball team, Belfast Phoenix, and by school friends wearing their St Malachys College uniforms.
Floral tributes for Noah Donohoe outside his school, St Malachys in Belfast. Photograph: PA
Inside was a large framed photograph of Noah and his mother Fiona, with the St Malachys school crest above it. A black and green ribbon – the St Malachys school colours – was tied to the handle of the white coffin.
Members of the community search and rescue team who had helped to look for Noah stood outside the church during Mass.
In his introduction to the funeral, Fr McGinnity acknowledged the countless people holding the Donohoe family in their thoughts and prayers, and the tangible sense of shock and disbelief has gripped the community since Noahs body was found.
So many people are consumed by a sadness that cannot be put into words, he said, and Noahs family were grateful to all those who had reached out to them in their hour of need, including local people and community rescue teams, the police and all those at St Malachys College, as well as his friends. We remember them with gratitude today, he said.
Noahs body was found in a storm drain in north Belfast on Saturday, six days after he went missing.
Noah had cycled across the city to the Northwood Road area of north Belfast, where he was last seen just after 6pm on Saturday, June 21st. Much remains unclear about his final movements, but police believe he may have fallen off his bicycle and hit his head.
He was then seen discarding his clothing and cycling naked, actions which police and his family said were completely out of character.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said on Saturday that there was no evidence to suggest foul play.
Fr McGinnity, who is the priest at the Donohoe familys home parish of St Malachys in central Belfast, had been asked to celebrate Requiem Mass at St Patricks at the request of the family.
Noah and his mother, Fiona, had a personal connection with the church, which was, Fr McGinnity said during his homily, their spiritual home.
The funeral cortege of Noah Donohoe arrives at Saint Patricks Church in Belfast. Photograph: PA
It was at St Patricks, he said, where they were often drawn to pray before the image of Mary our mother as depicted in the beautiful triptych of the Madonna of the Lakes down on the right hand side of the church.
It was here, in this church that Fiona taught Noah as a child to thank God for his life and to remember that he, like every child, has been sent into the world to share Gods love with everyone.
Fr McGinnity said that Noah had a sense of wonder and a natural curiosity about life.
Every day he wanted to know more about the world and his place in it.
Noah was the kind of boy who was just full of the joy of living. Whether he was on the basketball court or playing his cello, or just having fun with friends, he savoured every moment.
He was passionate about everything he turned his hand to, and he wanted everyone to share that passion with him.
One of Noahs close friends, Fr McGinnity said, had described him as someone with so much potential in everything he did.
What had endeared him to his friends, he said, was that he carried that potential so lightly and so humbly.
As a natural leader he wanted everyone to appreciate their own gifts and talents. More than that, he wanted them to find the joy in living that he had found.
During Requiem Mass, a prayer service was held by Noahs form class at St Malachys College. After the service, the cortege is to pass the school to allow his friends, classmates and staff to pay their respects.
Earlier this week, the family said that sadly the Mass would be private because of the Covid-19 restrictions.