The removal of Valerie Lady Goulding, took place at St Mary's Church in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, yesterday.
Flanked by six Order of Malta escorts, Lady Goulding's remains were carried into the church by her three sons, Lingard, Tim and Ham, granddaughter, Leah, and grandson, Barnes.
Her coffin was draped in the red and white cross of the Order of Malta.
Mourners included several senior Knights and Dames of the Order of Malta, of which Lady Goulding was herself a Dame, members of the St John Ambulance and the Ireland Fund, and staff from the Central Remedial Clinic in Clontarf, which she co-founded.
Among the chief mourners was Cardinal Desmond Connell. Lady Goulding converted to Catholicism midway through her life and remained a devout Catholic until her death this week.
Father Pat Farnon, who led the prayer service, said Lady Goulding had left a great legacy behind her and hers was a life lived in the service of others.
"We can not only be impressed but can come away with the example of someone who spent their life reaching out to those who were forgotten," he said.
Father Farnon noted how Lady Goulding could have spent a life of leisure, "but that was not her way of working". He praised her insight and hard work spent caring for people with disabilities.
The vice-president of the Order of Malta, Mr Pat White, led the De Profundis prayers over Lady Goulding's coffin at the end of the service.
The Professor of Physiotherapy at University College Dublin, Prof Mary Garrett, said after the service that Lady Goulding had done tremendous pioneer work in healthcare for the disabled.
The retired superintendent of physiotherapy at the CRC, Ms Kay Keating, recalled how "Lady Valerie would don a tracksuit at lunchtime and jog around St Anne's Park. She was always very fit".
"We worked hard but we had a lot of fun. We were very much a family, and she was totally involved in every aspect of the clinic" said Ms Keating.
After the service, Sir Anthony O'Reilly recalled his memories of driving around Dublin in a van collecting shoes for the poor from businesses Lady Goulding had persuaded to make donations.
"She enlisted me in her private army, and I've been in it ever since," said Sir Anthony.
"I'm still expecting her to come back and order me to do something."
The rugby commentator Mr Jim Sherwin was also among the mourners.
"We've known her for a long, long time. We flew to New York together back in 1974 to start the Ireland Fund. She was very involved in that" he said.
The funeral Mass for Lady Goulding will be held at noon at St Mary's Church, followed by burial in St Patrick's Churchyard, Enniskerry.
her late husband, Sir Basil Goulding, is interred there.