THOUSANDS OF people attended Lyons funeral home on the main Tarbert to Listowel road yesterday to pay their respects to Michael Hanrahan (60) and his son Denis (27).
Stalwarts of the north Kerry community, both men were found shot dead in their home in The Hill, Moyvane, last Thursday morning. A Kerry man is in custody charged with their murder.
Inside the funeral home, bare without flowers (there was a jar for donations to cancer research instead of flowers, at the family's request), mourners filed past the open coffins of father and son to shake hands with their family.
Chief mourners included Denis's twin Shane, daughters/sisters Kayrena (26), Marion (25) and Áine (24), and a small number of male relatives.
A large Garda presence was maintained outside the funeral home, including several members of the traffic division who assisted with the coming and going of the thousands of cars.
When the funeral cortege left about an hour behind schedule, it did not take the regular route to the nearby village.
Instead, following a Kerry tradition, it took a longer route so it would draw near the turn-off at the bridge to the Hanrahan home, where it stopped briefly as a mark of respect.
A guard of honour by Fine Gael formed in the main street of Moyvane as the two hearses appeared on the Knockanure road and locals huddled in corners against the biting wind.
"They'll never get over it. It's hard on the other family too. There is no meaning to it, no meaning," one local woman remarked as the grieving daughters huddled together before entering the Church of the Assumption, where the coffins were received by Fr John Lucid.
The funeral Mass takes place today.