Hundreds attend funeral of Tralee’s Ellen Dillane

HUNDREDS of mourners filled St John’s Church in Tralee on Saturday morning for the funeral mass of local woman Ellen Dillane – the mother of Irish Rugby International Ultan Dillane.

The mother of two – who worked as a nurse at Tralee’s Bon Secours Hospital – passed away suddenly at the family home at Clahane in Ballyard on Monday, February 5.

Among the large number of people who attended St John’s to sympathise with the Dillane family were the majority of Ultan’s teammates from Connacht who had travelled en masse to offer their support.

At the Aviva Stadium – where Ultan had been expected to line out for Ireland against Italy on Saturday – the Irish squad all wore black armbands to show solidarity with their bereaved teammate.

Saturday’s ceremony was a deeply emotional affair, particularly during Cian Dillane’s brief but deeply touching and often very humorous eulogy to his mother.

During the eulogy he touched on his mother’s great love of animals and the family had encouraged donations to the Kerry Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and to the Irish Heart Foundation in lieu of flowers.

Following Saturday’s Requiem Mass, Ellen Dillane was laid to rest at Rath Cemetery.

She is survived by her two sons Cian and Ultan, her siblings Patrick and Marion and her extended family and many friends.

The remains of the late Ellen Dillane are brought from St John’s Church in Tralee following her funeral mass on Saturday morning.