Friends and colleagues mourn Terry Keane

TERRY KEANE had set a bottle of Dom Perignon aside and had planned to have a "DP" party when she recovered from her last bout of illness, her friends recalled as they gathered in the sunshine at St Joseph's Church, Glasthule, Co Dublin, yesterday.

However the former fashion editor and columnist did not recover from her last operation and died in St Vincent's hospital, Dublin, on Saturday, after a long battle with colon cancer. She would have celebrated her 69th birthday in September.

Hundreds of mourners stood outside the church as her coffin was received by family friend Fr Noel Barber SJ. Her daughters Jane, Madeleine and Justine, and her husband Ronan Keane, led the mourners. Ms Keane was predeceased by her son Tim in 2004.

They were followed by Justine's husband, gardener Diarmuid Gavin, and Jane's husband, Karl Carpenter, who carried a photograph of his mother-in-law.

The removal was attended by Minister for Integration Conor Lenihan and many people from the legal world. Chairman of the Morris tribunal Mr Justice Frederick Morris and Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman of the Supreme Court were among those offering condolences to the former Chief Justice Ronan Keane. Also present were writers Desmond Fennell and Ronan Farren.

Other faces from the media world included Vincent Jennings of the Irish Press group, Willie Kealy of the Sunday Independent,PJ Gibbons, Social and Personaleditor and Jane McDonnell, publisher of The Gloss.

Ms Keane had worked with a number of newspapers during her career including the Sunday Press, The Irish Times, the Sunday Independent, the Sunday Timesand, up to recently, Social and Personalmagazine.

Outside the church, fellow fashion writer Ruth Kelly recalled "a marvellous friend with a wicked sense of humour".

Ms Keane's close friend Noelle Campbell-Sharpe stood with her daughter Tara von Spreckelsen and reminisced about the times she shared with Ms Keane in Kenmare and Ballinskelligs. "She will be sorely missed on the social scene because she always added a certain excitement to the party when she arrived."

Also in attendance were designer Richard Lewis, model Lisa Fitzpatrick, songwriter and broadcaster Shay Healy and Freda Hayes of Meadows and Byrne.

Requiem Mass will be held at St Joseph's Church at 11am today, followed by cremation at Mount Jerome crematorium.