The funeral took place yesterday of Belfast freelance journalist and writer Jill McKenna. She was 68 and died suddenly at her home in Belfast.
Ms McKenna (née Smyth), who is survived by her son Michael and brothers Roger and Jackie, worked as a secretary in the Belfast office of The Irish Times from 1969 until 1977, also writing occasional pieces of journalism for the newspaper.
She subsequently worked as a freelance journalist and also had a number of short stories and radio plays broadcast. She was a member of the Belfast Writers Group.
She was a talented artist and was also a member of the Belfast Arts Club. She was predeceased by her husband Malachy in the early 1990s.
Her funeral service was held at the church at Roselawn Cemetery yesterday.
Among the large congregation were John Gray of the Belfast Linen Hall Library; cartoonist Brian Moore; Ben Caraher of the SDLP; Ireland editor of the London Independent David McKittrick and Irish Times columnist Fionnuala O Connor who both worked with Ms McKenna in The Irish Times during the 1970s, and Gerry Moriarty, northern editor of The Irish Times.