The son of Amanda Carroll who was killed in her home in Dublin last week, thanked the local community at her funeral for making him “stronger every day” since his mother’s death.
To sustained applause from the congregation at St Francis Xavier Church on Gardiner Street, Denis Carroll (16) said Christ was also making him stronger each day.
“I want to say thank you, thank you very much you have been helping me and you have been helping my family get stronger,” he told mourners.
Ms Carroll was found dead at her apartment in Homestead Court, Quarry Road in Cabra on October 20th. She had been strangled while Denis and his brother Cameron (5) slept nearby.
Fr Dermot Mansfield SJ welcomed the coffin as it arrived at the church, telling those in attendance it was the church where Ms Carroll (33) had made her first Holy Communion and Confirmation. The preist said Ms Carroll’s mother, Margaret had died when the deceased was aged just 12.
Fr Mansfield also paid tribute to the pupils of O’Connell’s Schools “around the corner” who formed a guard of honour outside the church as the coffin was carried in as a mark of respect to Denis, who attends the school.
In his homily, Fr Mansfield said Ms Carroll had been a loved mother who would “give away her last shilling”.
‘Awful ending’
He said the “dreadful, awful ending of Amanda’s life” was “beyond words” and people would struggle to understand how she could be “taken away in that violent way”. Seán Nolan (34), who was Ms Carroll’s partner, has been remanded in custody charged with her murder.
Fr Mansfield said faith gave “some understanding that her life had not been in vain”. Ms Carroll was the same age as Christ when he died and just as Christ told mourners he was entering eternal life, so too was Amanda, he added.
Fr Mansfield said “words were not cheap” but it is more than words we need now. We need support, prayers and love”.
A statement read during the Mass on behalf of Ms Carroll’s extended family noted the outpouring of support from the community and thanked the church, neighbours and friends.
The principal mourners at the ceremony were Ms Carroll’s children Denis and Cameron, her father William, sisters Lisa, Sandra and Antoinette and brothers Willie, Gerard and Joe.
