London couple's tragic death in Spanish resort leaves 'immeasurable void'

Thomasina and Patrick Tobin were on holiday near Valencia when they died in a hot tub at their rented villa in Cullera last month. Their teenage children found them and called for help. Investigators concluded the deaths were likely accidental. On Friday, the couple was remembered at a joint funeral Mass in Ballintra, County Donegal, where mourners heard that their sudden passing had carved out what one speaker called an immeasurable void in the lives of everyone who knew them.

Thomasina was fifty-one, originally from Castleblayney in County Monaghan. Patrick was forty-eight, from New Zealand. They had built their lives in London, where Thomasina worked as a quantity surveyor and senior executive with a project management consultancy in the construction sector. Patrick worked in technology. By all accounts, they were meticulous in everything they undertook—nothing was left half-finished or carelessly done. Their home was a place where people felt welcome; the couple were known for their generosity and their openness to others.

Reverend Canon Patrick McGinn, who led the funeral Mass at Our Lady of Knock Church, spoke of a man and woman whose lives were anchored in family and friendship. He had heard the news on the radio weeks earlier and had not expected to be standing in Ballintra marking their deaths. "We really don't know what to say," he told the gathered mourners. "All we can do is huddle in grief around the remains of shattered dreams and what might have been." He described Thomasina as someone who carried the qualities of her late mother Nancy—grit, determination, a tenacious grip on difficult things, all of it wrapped in softness, love, and kindness. Patrick, he said, was quick-moving and adventurous, someone who kept everyone around him engaged. He had tried his hand at rugby, hockey, cricket, water polo, football, skiing, snowboarding, and surfing.

But the centre of both their lives, McGinn emphasized, was their children. Rhea and Séamus, now teenagers, had been the most important part of everything they did. The service included offertory gifts that spoke to who the Tobins were: photographs of them with family and friends, a Pounamu—a sacred New Zealand greenstone—a hard hat, and cards. The cremation followed the Mass.

Thomasina's brother John addressed the mourners and thanked those who had supported the family through the preceding weeks. He singled out the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust for the way they had guided the family through the shock and logistics of bringing their loved ones home, moving with both compassion and understanding through a situation most families hope never to face. The couple are survived by their children, their parents Tommy McArdle and Clare, Michael Tobin, and their wider family.