The village of Clonroche came to a standstill today for the funerals of the family of four who were found dead in their home in Co Wexford last weekend.
Diarmuid Flood (41), his wife Lorraine (38) and their children Mark (6) and Julie (5) were discovered dead inside their burning home in the village in the early hours of Saturday.
Speaking at the Requiem Mass this afternoon, Fr Richard Hayes described the deaths as a "painful tragedy."
"We don't know why tragedies such as these happen. They are not the will of God," said Fr Hayes.
"We keep in mind that this is a very painful tragedy that involves the loss of life of small children: Mark and Julie; and their young parents: Diarmuid and Lorraine. Let us be sensitive and caring to the bereaved families as we consider the rawness of their great loss, their vulnerability, their darkness and their pain," he said.
Referring to the nature of their deaths, Fr Hayes said that there were a large number of people, who "feel lost, helpless and frightened."
"Most likely we are angry and we want to blame somebody but this is not the time to reduce the God of Jesus to our own size," he said.
Hundreds of people attended a removal service at St Clement's church in Cloughbawn, Clonroche last night prior to the funeral mass .
Gardaí are investigating a number of theories in an effort to find out the exact circumstances surrounding the deaths.
Postmortems confirmed Diarmuid and Lorraine died of single gunshot wounds. The cause of the children's deaths remains unknown. However, they did not die because of the fire or suffer physical trauma, gardaí say.
Gardaí have refused to comment on speculation that the children may have been sedated prior to the fire. The cause of their deaths is not likely to emerge until toxicology tests are completed.
A book of condolences has been opened at the town hall in New Ross, 16 kilometres from the village.