Mourners at the funeral of Karen Cummings have been told that her death was “unspeakably wicked and evil”, as church-goers were also urged to pray for the murder victim’s loved ones at this time.
A Requiem Mass was held for the mother-of-two today in the Church of St Therese in Karen’s homeplace of Banbridge, Co Down.
The 40-year-old was killed at her home on the night of Saturday, December 14.
She had been found unconscious with a serious head injury in the Laurel Heights area of the Co Down town, and it is understood her cause of death was from gunshot wounds to her head.
Glenn King (32), whose address was listed as no fixed abode in Lurgan, and Kevin McGuigan Jnr (42) have both appeared in court charged with her murder.
McGuigan Jnr, from Annacloy Park in Hillsborough, was also accused of possessing a double-barrel shotgun and ammunition in addition to handling stolen property.
Both were remanded into custody to appear in court again via video-link on January 9.
The funeral of murder victim Karen Cummings in Church of St Therese, Banbridge. Photo by Press Eye
Delivering the homily at Karen’s funeral service, Father Aidan McGrath stated what “happened last weekend — being killed in the sanctuary of her own home — was unspeakably wicked and evil, without any justification in a civilised or Christian society”.
“Karen has been taken from her loved ones, suddenly and brutally,” the priest continued.
“She is gone from us. We no longer see her constant presence. We no longer hear her voice. We are no longer comforted or challenged by what she had to say. And yet, in this time of utter grief, in Christ, we believe that she is still present to us.”
Earlier in the service, he had noted that “Karen has been taken from this world in the prime of her life, and in the most cruel manner”.
“Words cannot accurately express remotely how we feel, and yet words are all we have on an occasion like this.”
Karen was born in February 1984 — she had celebrated her 40th birthday earlier this year. She had grown up in the Primrose Gardens region of Banbridge and attended St Mary’s Primary School there, then Our Lady’s Grammar School in Newry, and finally, St Patrick’s College Banbridge.
“I’m told that while she was smart at school, she did manage occasionally to skip school to spend time with her auntie Wendy,” Fr McGrath added.
“When she finished school, she worked at a few jobs in the community, and then, to the delight of her mother, she found her true vocation and trained as a nurse.
“After a degree in nursing at Queen’s University Belfast, Karen took up a post at her local Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry, working as a paediatric nurse, continuing her training, and becoming a nurse practitioner and a deputy sister. In the meantime, she met and married her husband John Paul, and had her two children, Curtis and Zara.
The funeral of murder victim Karen Cummings in Church of St Therese, Banbridge. Photo by Press Eye
“Karen is remembered and missed by all who love her, and all who knew her, as a loving mother, daughter, wife, granddaughter and friend.
“In her life and in her nursing career, Karen sought to respond with love and care, to the needs of others.
“In her dedication to her family, to her patients and to her friends and colleagues, Karen was surely trying her best to carry out that commandment to Jesus, to love others just as he did, and that surely has opened to her, the door to Our Father’s house.”
A photograph of Karen, alongside a picture of her two children, a Harry Potter-themed mug and a dog lead, were brought as gifts to the altar as gifts to remember her by.
The hundreds of attendees in the Banbridge church also heard how she “showed kindness and patience to everyone she met”, and that she was “one of a kind”.
During a Prayer of the Faithful, one of her loved ones shared: “We ask God to reward her for a life well-lived and for her unwavering dedication to her work as a paediatric nurse.
“May she now find peace and experience eternal light, joy, and rest in God’s kingdom.”
Some of Karen’s medical colleagues also spoke and delivered prayers and readings at the altar, with many wearing their nursing uniforms.
They ‘thanked God for the unique gift of Karen in our lives’ and prayed that their ‘happy memories of her’ will give them all comfort and strength over the coming days, weeks and months ahead.
Loved ones also prayed for the paramedics, PSNI members, family liaison officer and all who responded swiftly to the scene on the night that Karen died.
She is survived by her children, Curtis, and Zara, her mother Margarita, her grandmother Mary and the entire McQuaid family.
A final Prayer of the Faithful stated: “For the members of our families who have gone before us, we ask you Lord that Karen would be reunited with her grandfather Jim. May they find peace and happiness with God, in the company of the Saints.”
Karen is the seventh woman to be killed in Northern Ireland this year.
Karen Cummings was killed at her home in Banbridge.
Hundreds of people attended a candlelit vigil organised in her memory by Women’s Aid Armagh Down, with Deputy Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Kyle Savage, telling the crowd that “the violence that women face in our society can no longer be ignored or tolerated.”
The father of Lurgan woman Natalie McNally — who was pregnant when she was murdered in her home almost exactly two years ago — also attended the emotional event.
Fr McGrath began his sermon today noting that it was exactly two days before Christmas, and that instead of gathering for joy and celebration, they were instead surrounded by grief and devastation.
The final prayer on Karen’s funeral leaflet recited: “The happy hours we once enjoyed, how sweet their memories still. But death has left a vacant place. This world can never fill.”