Neighbours and locals from Tina Satchwell’s Cork hometown have gathered to say goodbye to a woman who “had a smile for everybody” ahead of her funeral mass on Wednesday.
Ms Satchwell’s funeral cortege passed through Fermoy as family, friends and neighbours paid their respects to a woman described as “beautiful on the inside and out”.
Groups of people gathered in St Bernard’s Place estate, where Ms Satchwell grew up in a terraced house, to remember an animal lover who “loved life”.
Ms Satchwell (45) had been missing from her home in Youghal since March 2017 until Gardaí discovered her remains buried under the staircase in a Youghal house two weeks ago.
Her widower Richard Satchwell (57) with an address on Grattan Street, Youghal, has been charged with her murder.
Neighbours of the family home in St Bernard’s Place, Patsy Flood and Brendan Cronin, described Ms Satchwell as a “lovely” woman who was happy “all of the time” and took her dogs everywhere with her.
Mr Flood said despite the tragedy of her death, he was happy to hear that her remains were found for her family’s sake.
“Thank God they got her. There’s no one in Cork that would say a bad word about them (Ms Satchwell’s family),” Mr Flood said.
Two of Ms Satchwell’s cousins, Melissa and Jean, described her as “lovely and stylish”.
They said that she used to keep her dog Ruby in little handbags and the only time they seemed to be separated was when Ms Satchwell went swimming.
Two neighbours, Tim and Catherine Cosgrove, told PA “she was a dote” who “loved her fashion, loved her dogs”.
“Loved life, God love her,” Ms Cosgrove said.
“When she moved away then, she used to come up every couple of months, she’d always come over and say hello to us,” Mr Cosgrove said.
“When she did move away, every year without fail, we’d get a Christmas card from her, every year without fail.”
[ Tina Satchwell case: A timeline of the investigation into her disappearanceOpens in new window ]
Ms Cosgrove added: “She’d stand at the wall talking away. She’d have the dog Ruby in the bag and she’d say ‘Look, what I’m wearing the dog is wearing the same colour!
“And she always had a smile, every time you’d see that girl she was smiling.
“She was that kind of a girl, there wasn’t a person who could say a bad word against her.”
Ms Cosgrove said it was “a sad ending” but Mr Cosgrove added that it’s “closure now” for her family and friends.
“We were all waiting for years, waiting to hear what happened to her, where did she go,” Ms Cosgrove said.
A local woman who knew Ms Satchwell said she was “loved by everyone” and “had a smile for everybody”.
She said she was relieved when she heard Ms Satchwell’s remains had been found, but was also “devastated” that her life had ended in the way that it had.
Another person, who did not wish to be named, described Ms Satchwell as “a beautiful person inside and out”, and an “animal lover” and “wouldn’t hurt a fly”.
A notice said Ms Satchwell’s funeral mass would take place on Wednesday afternoon “privately and quietly, as she lived”. – PA