In a liturgy laced with celebration and some humour, Valerie Lady Goulding was laid to rest in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, yesterday.
Lady Goulding and her husband, Sir Basil Goulding, the "glittering couple" as described by parish priest, Father Patrick Farnan, were reunited after Mass in St Mary's Parish Church and interment in St Patrick's Churchyard. Sir Basil died in 1982.
Father Farnan, who was accompanied by Father Norman Fitzgerald of Refugee Trust and Canon Ricky Rountree, rector of Powerscourt, said he first met Lady Goulding while studying for the priesthood in Clonliffe College. He recalled her conversion to Catholicism and her dedication to her belief.
"She could so easily have lived a life of indulgence," Father Farnan added. "She could so easily have spent her time beside a swimming pool in the south of France. But that was not her way. She and Kathleen O'Rourke, her great friend, saw a great need at the time, and so was born the Central Remedial Clinic."
The attendance, which filled the church to overflowing, included representatives from the clinic. The President, Mrs McAleese, was represented by her aide-de-camp, Capt Sue Ramsbottom, and the Taoiseach by his aide-de-camp, Capt Ger O'Grady.
Others present included the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, Mr Rory Kiely, the Fianna Fáil senator, Mr Tony Kett, and the Fianna Fáil TD, Mr Seán Haughey, whose father, Mr Charles Haughey, was involved in fund-raising for the clinic in the 1970s. Lady Goulding was a member of the Seanad in the 1970s.
The chief mourners were her sons, Sir Lingard, Timothy and Hamilton, and her brother, Viscount Monckton of Brenchley.
In his tribute to his mother, Mr Hamilton Goulding read from a letter of thanks to her from the disabled poet, Christopher Nolan, in 1987.
"In my trembling state, I nodded towards you, and in your blissful happiness you had eyes for me," he wrote. "Beautiful respect I found teetering from your fingers each time you caressed my cheek. The presence in your smile tottered out each time we met, and I vowed often to give a hint to you of what you did to imbecilic me."
Christopher Nolan had written how "wonderful acres" had stretched to Lady Goulding's horizon. "And now, looking across my view, you must see me, as I amble towards you with outstretched arms, shouts locked in my open mouth," he wrote. "But you know where to look, and in my eyes you will see reflected there, my love."
Mr Denis Wardell, a family friend, said that Lady Goulding hated to be idle and threw herself into helping those less fortunate than herself.
The major disappointment of her life was not getting more involved in politics, he added. "She reared a wonderful, multi-talented family," said Mr Wardell.
He spoke of how she survived her family's idiosyncrasies, "Basil tap-dancing on television, roller-skating to Bank of Ireland board meetings".
Mr Wardell also revealed how Lady Goulding suffered from migraines without complaint, departing to a darkened room when they occurred.
Mozart and Handel were included in the musical tribute, there was a reading from Kahlil Gibran, and the choir sang hymns which included The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, Is Ended.
As the hearse made its way from the church to the cemetery for her last journey, the first verse was appropriate:
The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended,
The darkness falls at thy behest.
To thee our morning hymns ascended,
Thy praise shall sanctify our rest.