With his wife, Nicola, his three young children, Lucy, Alex and Andrew, and a host of dignitaries – including Michael D Higgins and Enda Kenny – in attendance, the funeral of Garda Tony Golden has now taken place. 

The service was held at the small St Oliver Plunkett's church in the parish of Blackrock, Co Louth at 12noon.

 

Prior to the service the funeral cortège, led by Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan, had made its way through the locale 

Businesses in the area have shut for the day as a mark of respect, with most residents instead lining the town's streets.

Thousands line the streets of Blackrock, Louth for the funeral mass of Gda Tony Golden @IrishMirror pic.twitter.com/HOXt4vVZGY

— Garreth MacNamee (@garmacnamee) October 15, 2015

Most impactful of all, however, was the sight of 35-year-old Garda Tony's coffin being escorted by thousands of his serving colleagues, many of them in uniform.

The church itself can only accommodate some 300 people, so most stood in the grounds, where big screens broadcasting the funeral have been erected.

 

Tony was killed on Sunday when he responded to a local 999 call.

He was shot and shortly afterwards died alongside the 24-year-old shooter, Adrian Crevan Mackin, who turned the gun on himself after fatally striking Garda Golden. 

The killer's partner and the mother of his two children, Siobhán Phillips, 22, remains in a critical condition in a Dublin hospital after also being shot in the head by Crevan Mackin.  

 

This afternoon, the dead garda was remembered as a role model for the community; his brother, Patrick, also described him as a "big gentle giant".

And in his homily, chief celebrant Fr Pádraig Keenan told the congregation that the killing of Garda Golden was "cold blooded murder". He reminded the mourners that Co Mayo-native was the 88th garda to die in the line of duty. 

 

He continued: "It is 88 members too many. He like all the others is mourned by the entire nation.

Fr Keenan went on to say that too many hearts have been broken, and too many lives shattered. There is no place for violence in our society, violence is wrong, always wrong, he stated.

Sea of blue swept through village to pay respects to 'adored dad' Garda Tony Golden: http://t.co/UTimdeU44n pic.twitter.com/tsnkVYHMYq

— Independent.ie (@Independent_ie) October 15, 2015

Symbols brought to altar by heartbroken family members include photographs; a club jersey and hurley from the Stephanites GAA club in his native Ballina, Co Mayo; as well as a TV remote control, a soft drink, a bar of chocolate and packet of crisps to recall his cherished "time out".

Garda Golden will now be laid to rest at St Paul's Cemetery Heynestown.