Weeping schoolmates of tragic Brian McDaid formed a guard of honour yesterday as his coffin was carried to his funeral just yards from his home in Ardnameala, St Johnston, Co. Donegal.

His parish priest, Msgr Dan Carr, who presided at the funeral mass, recalled that the 13-year-old who drowned in a freak accident in the nearby Foyle river, was a "lovely, outgoing chirpy young boy who was carefree and carried no grudges."

More than 1,200 mourners packed the tiny St Baithin's Church and overflowed into the yard and adjoining cemetery.

Brian's mum Geraldine poignantly kept touching the coffin as she walked with other relatives behind it.

Her boy, second eldest in a family of four children, was playing with his best friends William Mitchell and Michael Wray on the mudflats and sandbanks of the Foyle – which is tidal in that area – when tragedy struck on a sunny bank holiday Monday.

Msgr Carr told the congregation: "Unfortunately, they were too young to understand the ebb and flow of the tide and the mudflats and sandbanks became soft and couldn't carry their weight as the tide swept in."

He added: "They were cut off from the mainland, stranded. One can only imagine their fear, their desperation, their sickly feeling as they lashed about feverishly in the rising water trying to get to the river bank."

The priest recalled that William and Michael managed to struggle to safety but Brian was trapped in the mud.

There was an unbelievable response from the rescue services, local fishermen and neighbours when the alarm was raised.

He said: "Crowds stood along the bank beseeching God that Brian's body would be found. It was an eerie scene."

It was some small consolation for Brian's parents Damian and Geraldine, sisters Danielle and Araeya and brother James that the body was recovered before darkness fell on Monday.

Tributes have been paid to Brian following the tragedy which has left the local community stunned.

PJ McGowan, the principal of Deele College in Raphoe, where Brian was a first year pupil, said the teenager would be badly missed.

"He was a very, very caring young man, a popular young man, and a good student at the school."

Mary Crossan, of the St Johnston Resource Centre, a close friend of the bereaved family, said there was a "great sense of helplessness in the community."

"It's going to take a while for (Brian's mother] Geraldine and the family to come to terms with what happened," she said.