More than a thousand mourners packed the local church in Hospital on Tuesday for the funeral mass of 21-year-old Basil Burke, who died in a drowning accident in Ibiza last week.

A nephew of Defence Minister Willie O’Dea, the Limerick Institute of Technology student, drowned on Monday night, July 31, while trying to swim ashore from a pleasure boat on the popular island holiday resort.

The only son of Minister O’Dea’s sister, Mary Burke and her husband John, the 21-year-old is also survived by his two older sisters Lillian and Carole and his grandmother Maud O’Dea.

Hundreds of people including the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces Pat Nash packed the church of St John The Baptist in Hospital for the poignant funeral service.

An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, was represented by Lieutenant Colonel Mathew Murray, and a number of Minister O’Dea’s Dail colleagues were also present including Peter Power, Michael Noonan, and Michael Smith.

During his homily, chief celebrant Canon Conor Ryan, described the civil engineering student as a "cheerful, witty and good humoured” person who always had time for his family.

The local priest said the huge number of people present at his funeral mass was testament to the popularity of a young man with so many friends.

"He got on with people of all ages and people from all different backgrounds. Who knows, he might even have given his Uncle Willie a run for his money some day!” joked Canon Ryan.

Speaking on behalf of the Burke family, Ritchie Ryan, a cousin of the deceased, thanked the many mourners who travelled from across the country and paid special tribute to Brazil’s friends who had been with him in Ibiza on the holiday that ended in such tragedy.

Basil Burke was one of five Irish people who died abroad in the space of one week.

The 21-year-old got into difficulties and drowned while trying to swim ashore from a pleasure boat during an ill-fated trip with a friend in the port of San Antonio on the island of Ibiza. .