Hundreds of mourners turned out yesterday for the funeral of the first of the two fisherman who died when their trawler sank near Ardglass, Co Down, last week.
The coffin of Donall Gibson was carried into St Patrick's Church in Downpatrick by members of the Dundalk diving team that had helped find his body.
It was recovered from the sea near where his vessel, the Greenhill, was driven on to rocks by strong winds and heavy seas last Thursday.
Parish priest Fr Sean Rogan was assisted by curates from the parish, as well as priests from the parish of Saul, just outside Downpatrick, where the Gibson family live, and from Ardglass.
The Bishop of Down and Connor, Dr Patrick Walsh, was also represented.
Fr Rogan said the tragedy had helped unite everyone in the area, regardless of denomination.
The mourners were led by the 22-year-old victim's mother, Gráinne, and by his family circle.
Many young men, some of them also fishermen, wept openly.
In his homily, Fr Rogan said that as the three fishermen hauled their nets back on board last Thursday, they "would never have imagined because of the impending tragedy, they would gather crowds of people prayerfully together on a cold and windswept harbour".
He said of the dead men: "In death they hauled in a huge number of people, young and old, in prayerful, compassionate unity.
"They became in those moments 'fishers of men'," he added.
The congregation prayed for the remaining missing fisherman and father of two, Connor Bogues (26), from Ballynahinch. Prayers were also offered that the Greenhill's skipper, Conrad Zych from Ardglass, would recover from the traumatic loss of the two men's lives.
Mr Zych, whose family is of Polish origin, left hospital at the weekend having been treated for hypothermia.
As Mr Gibson's body was buried in the graveyard adjoining Saul parish church two miles from Downpatrick, the search for Mr Bogues's body continued.
A PSNI helicopter made frequent passes over the rocky coastline just north of the fishing village while a vessel equipped with specialist sonar gear tried to locate the body.