Mourners at Thomas Ruttle’s funeral urged not to succumb to anger

Mourners at the funeral of a Co Limerick man who died in an apparent suicide pact have been told that "today is not a day for blame or anger".

The bodies of the Thomas Ruttle (56) and his partner Julia Holmes (63) were discovered in an upstairs bedroom of the home they shared at Boolaglass, Askeaton, Co Limerick on May 18th.

Originally from Northern Ireland, Ms Holmes was a convicted fraudster who was the subject of PSNI and FBI police investigations. She was known to have used up to 40 different aliases.

Gardaí believe the couple may have died from deliberate exposure to carbon monoxide. Their bodies were badly decomposed.

A postmortem carried out by State Pathologist Marie Cassidy failed to establish the cause of death.

Detectives are awaiting the results of toxicology tests, which could take another week, before they can confirm how the couple died.

Mourners began to arrive at the small entrance to St Mary's Church of Ireland in Askeaton the church an hour before the service too pay their final respects to Mr Ruttle, a beekeeper.

Speaking at the funeral service, Reverend Keith Scott told those gathered that their time of grief had been made more difficult by the strangeness of the events leading up to his death.

“There is no sorrow like the sorrow at the death of a loved one. It has been made all the more intense for us today because of the uncertainty and the long wait which has had to be endured to get to today, by the almost incomprehensible events surrounding Thomas’ death,” said Rev Scott.

“There is a sense that somehow we have failed. That somehow there was something we should have said or done, something we missed, or something that we wish we could now take back, that we did or said which we should not have done or said.

“Hindsight, they say, is 20/20 vision. Afterwards we see clearly, and then comes the blame, contempt and anger, the deep regret for things done or left undone, words said or left unsaid.”

Rev Scott told mourners they have little power to change how events unfold themselves in the world.

“The little we can do will always be messy and ambivalent, and there is always something left hanging unfinished. So today is not a time for blame and anger. Let our grief be a grief without bitterness, or blame. “

Reverend Scott urged mourners to support Mr Ruttle’s family, including his sons Ian and Kelvin, his sisters Jean and Claire and his brother Edward.

“Time will bring its own element of healing, but for those that were close to him Thomas will always be remembered, even in many years time, with a twinge of pain, like an old deep wound never quite healed, the flesh beneath the scars still tender.

“We need to be patient and understanding with one another, care for, support, and help one another through the difficult times, and not expect too much or too quickly.”

Mr Ruttle who was described as “a beloved brother and father” was laid to rest in the family plot on the church grounds.

In a tribute read out on their behalf, Ian and Kelvin Ruttle described their father as “a devoted, generous and loving father who was dedicated to beekeeping for over 30 years”.

Meanwhile, the remains of Ms Holmes, who claimed to be married to Mr Ruttle despite never divorcing her previous two husbands, remain in the morgue at University Hospital Limerick.

This is despite a letter she sent to solicitors in Belfast requesting that she be buried alongside Mr Ruttle.

Nobody has come forward to claim her remains.

Her only child, a son whom she abandoned 40 years ago in Northern Ireland as a baby, has said that he wants nothing to do with his estranged mother.

It is understood the 63-year-old, who was born Cecilia Julia McKitterick in Castlederg Co Tyrone in 1952, will be cremated later this week.