Neighbours from Carane, near Ballintubber, Co Roscommon, formed a guard of honour last night as the bodies of Carl and Catherine Doyle were removed to St Croan's Church, Ballymoe, Co Galway.
The bodies of the young Dublin couple, who were found dead in their home last Saturday, will be brought to Dublin today, following a funeral Mass at St Croan's. The church the couple attended in Ballintubber is closed for renovations.
They will be brought to St Ciaran's Church, Hartstown, Clonsilla at 6 p.m. today. Following funeral Mass at 10 a.m. tomorrow at the church they will be buried in Mulhuddart Cemetery.
The neighbours, including young friends of the couple's four children, lined up on a bridge over the Suck river just outside the village last night, before marching alongside the two coffins to the church. They wore black arm bands.
Villagers stood silently as the procession passed. As the coffins were brought into the church, a purple wreath from workers at the Avonmore meat factory in Ballyhaunis was carried to the hearse.
Relatives and close friends held each other for support as they entered the church. They included the fathers of the deceased, Mr Patrick Doyle and Mr Joseph Doyle.
The parish priest of Ballintubber, Father Seamus Cox, told the congregation that everyone in the area was deeply shocked at the tragic events of early last Saturday morning.
Pupils of Enfield National School, which two of the couple's children attended, could not understand what had happened.
As they prepared to go back to school they were asking: "Will Frankie be there? Will Jessie be there?"
"Those little ones are in a state of shock, just as we are ourselves," Father Cox observed.
He said the people of the Ballintubber-Enfield area offered their support and "deepest sympathy" to the Doyle families. They were grateful for the opportunity to express their sorrow in person. "We will always miss them."
Carl and Catherine had been happy and content in the peaceful surroundings of Ballintubber.
"They weren't very long here, but they made themselves at home, and they made a lovely home. Many times I visited their home, and I was always welcomed," he said.
He asked for prayers for the recovery of Ms Sarah Jane Doyle, the sister of Catherine Doyle, who sustained head injuries on Saturday, and for prayers for the children left bereft of their parents.
Sarah Jane Doyle was said to be stable at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin yesterday. Her six-month old son, Thomas, and her dead sister's four children were being cared for by their grandparents, gardai said.