A FATHER who devoted his life to campaigning for the rights of crime victims and their relatives after the murder of his 19-year-old daughter and only child in 2006 was laid to rest yesterday five days after he was found dead in his Clonmel home.
Peter Keaney (47) was found dead of a suspected heart attack at his home in Elm Park in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, on Tuesday.
The body of his daughter Sheola Keaney was discovered under plastic sheeting at O’Brien’s Lane in Cobh, behind the Cobh Pirates rugby pitch, on July 16th, 2006.
Sheola had gone missing after attending a house party in the seaside town, three days before her remains were found.
Her ex-boyfriend, 21-year-old Thomas Kennedy, from Russell Heights in Cobh, was subsequently given a life sentence for her murder.
At Mr Keaney’s noon Requiem Mass in St Colman’s Cathedral in his native Cobh, Fr John McCarthy said he hoped that Mr Keaney was at rest following the turmoil of the last few years.
“We pray that Peter will be at rest. We know the words of St Augustine: ‘That our hearts are restless, O Lord, and they will not rest until they rest in you.’ We pray for Peter that he may find rest and peace and answers. We pray that the Lord grants him eternal rest with Sheola forever.”
Mr Keaney was active in Advic, the organisation for the families of homicide victims. He had called on government to provide extra funding to set up specialist units to help bereaved families and friends cope with the trauma of having a loved one murdered.
Hundreds of mourners attended the Mass, including Mr Keaney’s siblings and representatives of Advic. He was laid to rest at St Colman’s Cemetery in Cobh, where his daughter is also buried.