Thousands of people last night attended the removal of the remains of Vincent and Mary Cully who were shot dead at their home last Saturday, writes Sean MacConnell in Mullingar. People from all over the country queued for over two hours at the mortuary at Mullingar hospital to tender their respects to the grieving family.
There were very moving scenes when the twin coffins were loaded into the hearses for the nine-mile journey to Killulagh church near where the couple met their violent deaths. Their children, Adrian, Jacinta, Yvette, Jerome and Nigel could not hold back their grief as the coffins covered in the flag of the local GAA club were put in the hearses. The cortege stretched back three miles along the motorway when it moved off shortly after 8.30 p.m. Gardai put a special one-way road traffic system into operation around the griefstricken village to accommodate the huge number of cars making their way to the church where the bodies were received by Father Fintan Cassidy. He had administered the last rites to the couple on Saturday.
At Killulagh church, Father Seamus Heaney conveyed his sympathies to the family. The funeral will take place from the church today following 11 o'clock Mass.
