The funeral of the children's father, Adrian Dunne, will take place this morning in the village of Boolavogue, Co Wexford. Michael Parsonsin New Ross
His remains will be removed from the home of his mother, Mary, who lives near the village of Clonroche, where he has been waked for the last two days, to St Cormac's Church for a Requiem Mass at 11am. The Mass will be concelebrated by Father Richard Redmond, a family friend, and Father William Cosgrave, the parish priest of Monageer. Visiting New Ross yesterday, the Taoiseach expressed his deep sadness about the tragedy.
Mr Dunne's brother, James, died by suicide last month, and his father, Hughie, died last year. Both are buried in the graveyard at Boolavogue.
Earlier yesterday there were emotional scenes at Mary Dunne's home in the townland of Forrestalstown when two hearses arrived at 7am to collect the remains of her daughter-in-law and granddaughters for the long road journey to Donegal. They had been waked in her house overnight on Thursday following the release of the bodies by Wexford's county coroner.
Last weekend, Adrian and Ciara Dunne had left written instructions that they and their daughters should all be buried together in Boolavogue.
Among other details, they also specified the music to be played in church, the clothing in which the bodies were to be dressed and the type of headstone they wished to have erected. These instructions, which were released to the media by members of the Dunne family earlier this week, had reportedly led to disagreements between the Dunne family and P.J. and Marian O'Brien, the parents of Ciara. However, these differences have apparently been resolved.