The funeral mass for Bray student Sebastian Creane was held today in Bray following a removal service last night.
The 22-year-old art and design student was killed eight days ago after he was stabbed by Shane Clancy, a TCD student from south Dublin.
Hundreds attended the service at the Church of the Holy Redeemer on the town's Main Street. Tributes were paid to Mr Creane during the service during the prayers for the faithful, and among the items offered in his memory were a guitar, camera, and a games console.
During the service, the congregation was asked to pray for the family of Shane Clancy.
Sebastian Creane's mother, Nuala, noted that both men were 22, shared the same initials, and were in the final year of college but that "one represented the light and the other represented the darkness".
Mourners responded with a standing ovation.
Prayers had earlier been offered for the grieving Clancy family who buried their son last Thursday.
Mrs Creane, a mother-of-two, urged mourners to channel thoughts of happiness and comfort to Ms Hannigan.
“She feels so responsible. She blames herself. Make her heart feel that happiness,” Mrs Creane said.
Ms Hannigan suffered serious injuries when her ex-boyfriend Clancy, believed to be jealous over her relatively new relationship with Sebastian launched a brutal attack before turning a knife on himself.
Among the mourners at the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer in Bray was Sebastian’s father James, as well as his brother Dylan who was also injured in the attack.
A white piano rested at the side of the altar - close family friend Phil Coulter, who offered his own public tribute to Sebastian last week, played throughout the service.
Bridge Over Troubled Waterand Steal Awaywere performed by the Derry-born composer along with singer Tommy Fleming.
Mr Coulter also played a piece specially composed for Sebastian, himself an avid and talented musician.
Friends and relatives offered Prayers of the Faithful, with tributes to Sebastian’s patience and his talents for photography, music and skateboarding.
Mrs Creane asked should they live their lives feeling anger, bitterness and resentment, always in the darkness, or jettison negativity.
Reminiscing, she talked of how her beloved boy was born three weeks early, always trying to go places.
Nuala and husband James wanted a second child as they didn’t want Dylan to be the only youngster, she told the congregation as she recalled Sebastian, or Seb as he was known, as a charmer with curly hair and brown eyes.
He was an able child, and could ride his bike at age just two-and a half without stabilisers, Mrs Creane said.
The vicious attack was carried out at Mr Creane’s house in the middle class Cuala Grove area of Bray in the early hours of Sunday, August 16th.
“Dylan, Seb, Jen and Laura faced a presence of demonic proportions that manifested through Shane Clancy,” she said.
A guitar and camera, reflecting Seb’s love of music and photography, as well as a selection of photos and a Nintendo computer game were left by his coffin, a simple wicker casket.
Mr Creane was entering his final year studying visual communications at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology.
Among the hundreds of mourners who packed the side aisles of the Bray chapel to pay their final respects was Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche.
After the service Sebastian’s remains were taken to St Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina, Co Mayo for prayers followed by burial in nearby Leigue Cemetery.
Clancy also seriously injured Dylan Creane, the deceased's brother and Jennifer Hannigan, his ex-girlfriend, at the Creane family home on Cuala Grove in Bray.
Earlier in the day, Mr Creane's body had reposed in the chapel of St Gerard's School, a private day school on the outskirts of Bray where he was a former pupil.