HUNDREDS paid their respect at the weekend at the funeral of retired barman Donal Manley (62) who was murdered last week following a burglary in his home which involved the theft of a television.
Mr Manley's body was found in a downstairs room of his terraced house on High Street near Capwell in Cork city by gardaí shortly after 8pm on October 12th. They had been alerted by neighbours concerned when they had not seen Mr Manley for 48 hours. Gardaí initially thought that he may have sustained his injuries in a heavy fall down the stairs of the terraced town house.
However, they launched a murder inquiry when a postmortem examination at Cork University Hospital found that the injuries were inconsistent with a fall.
On Saturday, at his requiem Mass at St Finbarr's South Church in Cork, chief celebrant Canon Kerry Murphy-O'Connor said Mr Manley was a special person who would live on in the memory of his loved ones, friends and neighbours. "This was his church for many years and his faith was a practical, down-to-earth faith. He [Donal] had a sense of reverence and dignity and respect for God and others. It is hard to understand [his death]. It is difficult to comprehend this reality."
Mourners were told that Mr Manley worked in the bar trade for much of his adult life.
He loved travel and was a good brother to his siblings and a cherished friend and neighbour.
Canon Murphy-O'Connor said Mr Manley was baptised in the church in which his requiem Mass was taking place. He spoke of how he and Donal's brother Pat had accessed the register the day before the funeral and noted "the line of his [Donal's] life" in parish records.
A native of Grenagh, Mr Manley worked for many years as a barman at the Sextant Bar on Albert Quay, but had taken early retirement due to arthritis.
Mr Manley was laid to rest at All Saints Cemetery, Garrycloyne, Blarney.
He is survived by brothers Pat, Tom, Tony, John and sisters Peggy and Mary.