The funeral has taken place of Dublin woman Celine Cawley, who died from head injuries sustained in an attack at her home on Monday last week.
As her husband Eamonn Lillis prepared to spend Christmas in custody charged over her brutal death, hundreds of mourners packed the Church of the Assumption in Howth for her funeral.
Family friend Fr Ciaran O’Carroll said advertising executive's death was an incredibly painful, distressing and heartbreaking experience.
“The death of someone so bright, so full of life and love and promise, makes us somehow look at life in a different way,” Fr O’Carroll said in his homily.
“Celine was a do-er, with a flair and an ability to get things done with panache and style.”
A mother of one, Ms Cawley (46) was found with serious head injuries in the patio of her Howth home on Monday of last week.
She had been beaten about the head with a brick and died later in hospital. Large crowds gathered outside the church, perched on Howth hill overlooking Dublin Bay.
Among the mourners were members of the Haughey family, including Minister for State Sean Haughey.
As Ms Cawley’s coffin was carried inside, Sutton Park School choir performed a rendition of Take That’s ‘Rule the World’, while hundreds of mourners packed the pews and lined the side aisles.
“The loss of someone who is so loved, the death of someone to whom we feel so close, and to whom we owe so much, is indeed an incredibly painful, distressing and heartbreaking experience,” Fr O’Carroll said.
Fr O’Carroll described Ms Cawley as an honest and loyal woman who had a dramatic and passionate nature.
“We cherish the memory of someone who was incredibly young, kind, thoughtful and considerate,” Fr O’Carroll said.
During the offertory, as the gifts were being brought to the altar, Sutton Park choir sang the Christmas hymn O Holy Night.
Later in the service Ms Cawley’s brother-in-law Andrew Coonan extended the family’s thanks to all those who have offered support and described the days since her shocking murder a very difficult week.
“The loss of Celine was appalling to us,” Mr Coonan said.
“It is in the time ahead, the months ahead, the years ahead, that we will need your support more so.” Ms Cawley, one of the country’s top advertising executives with Toytown Films which she set up and built herself, shared her exclusive Howth home with her husband, a television producer, and their daughter Georgia.
Ms Cawley was the founder and managing director of Toytown Films, a successful independent television company producing advertisements for major global brands since 1990.
She was buried after Mass at the Church of the Assumption in Howth in a private interment.
Her husband appeared in court again today after being charged with her murder.
Éamon Lillis (51), of Rowan Hill, Windgate Road, in Howth, was remanded to Cloverhill prison until January 6th after the hearing at Cloverhill District Court.
Yesterday, he had been remanded in custody following an appearance at Dublin District Court.
Mr Lillis was arrested on Saturday morning as part of their inquiry into the death of Ms Cawley (46), who was found dead at her home last Monday. After 24 hours detention and questioning, the DPP directed that Mr Lillis be charged with the murder of his wife.
Additional reporting PA