Bernie O'Neill was ‘special’ and someone with ‘great talent, courage and ambition’ said a priest at the Lurgan businesswoman's funeral

Mrs O'Neill, owner of Perfect Day and Night bridal brand and shops, tragically died on October 25 after battling cancer.

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Married to successful photographer, Mr Ciaran O’Neill, Bernie was a well known businesswoman in her own right and highly regarded in the world of weddings.

At her funeral at St Peter’s Church in Lurgan on Wednesday, Fr Brian Brown said Bernie had ‘so much in front of her, so much to live for, so much to give’.

"It’s just so sad her sickness has taken us from her. She was a young woman who was successful, a very successful businesswoman, a wife, daughter, sister, aunt, a friend and colleague.

"Bernie was loved and in turn she loved others. Gone from us all too soon.

"We bring before God today her life, the gifts that she had, her talents and her ambitions, her suffering and her death from her illness.

"This is a loss everyone in the Craigavon area will feel. My sincere condolences to the family at this time. Bernie was special, and her influence as a person and businesswoman will continue to be felt.”

He said: “Bernie was in God’s hands in the energy and creativity of her work, her life. And she was in God’s hands in the hospital room and in the long hard months of her sickness.

"Bernie was successful and we thank God for that. She was intelligent. She had great courage and the ability to build her own business with the help of Ciaran.

"She carried responsibility. She made decisions. She worked hard. She showed the way,” said Fr Brown.

"Bernie will now see that Perfect Day and Night that her heart and her soul longed for until the end,” he said.

"Ciaran and Bernie had a great life together and they loved each other. And Bernie depended so much, just like Ciaran, on the knowledge of the doctors and nurses and consultants who helped her.

"I am sure like all of us they too are broken for they were not able to do what they would have liked to have done for Bernie. We all depend on each other. We all need each other.

"Bernie will join her mother Eileen who she hid her own sickness from throughout her days. The love she had for her and her father Seamus meant she didn’t want to bring any more burden to them,” said Fr Brown.

"On behalf of all our business people and all our people here in this parish of Lurgan, on behalf of the Leitrim Parish Community where Bernie spent a long time, where she enjoyed so much laughter there in the village and did so much work and is really loved by the people down in Leitrim where her father Seamus still lives.

"To all those who took the time to go on social media to express their deep sorrow and love shows just how much Bernie and Ciaran were loved in this community,” said Fr Brown.

"Together I hope we can manage to support Ciaran and Seamus and that they come to terms with the death of one so talented and so loved.”