Sarah Montgomery funeral: Mourners heard how the 'tragic death of Sarah and baby Liam' left 'a deep wound on a close and quiet family'

The Service of Thanksgiving for Sarah Montgomery and her baby, Liam Arthur was led today by Revd Ian Gamble, Rector of Donaghadee

following an earlier private family Service of Committal.

The mother-of-two who was killed at her Donaghadee home last month had cared for her two autistic brothers and elderly grandparents.

A man has appeared in court charged with her murder.

Her death led to renewed focus on the rate of violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland and hundreds of people attended a vigil in her memory last week.

The 27-year-old was heavily pregnant with her third child, at the time of her death.

‘Sarah Montgomery was a quiet and much loved Donaghadee girl ,’ he also said in his sermon to a packed congregation.

‘A young mother, sister, a loving daughter to her late parents, and a cherished granddaughter.

‘Sarah had many friends from her days at school in our town and she was very much a part of our local community.

‘Our community has rallied around her family in a wonderful way, the vigil at Elmfield was an immediate heartfelt response that also highlighted the continued violence against women."

Also officiating at the service, the Revd Kathy Couchman said: ‘Sarah was just a born carer.

‘Her friends and family have all spoken of how she had a “heart of gold”, of how caring she was, not only towards people she knew, but to anyone who needed help, and Arthur and Edie have told me just how much love and kindness she has shown them throughout her life and how much she has done to help them,’ added the cleric.

Rev Couchman said that as Sarah’s parents died at a young age, ‘Sarah, then just a very young woman, took over the care for her brothers and she continued to care for them, alongside her Granda and Granny, until the day she died, all through the time since her own two little girls arrived; and, oh, how she loved being Mummy to those little girls’.

She added that ‘Sarah was so looking forward to being a Mummy also to her baby, Liam Arthur.

‘It is an utter tragedy that none of us has had, or ever will have, the chance to know him, to see him as a little boy or grown into a young man, but his was a life, a very precious life, that we must recognise and give thanks for.

‘His was a life that was so dearly loved and cherished by Sarah, who would have been the best, most loving Mummy to him, too.

‘She had everything ready to welcome him to this world, to her family and to her girls.

‘Thoughtful as ever, Sarah had had clothes prepared for Liam Arthur, embroidered with his name.

‘We have seen so many tributes to Sarah over the past 11 days.

‘They tell of a beautiful, caring, gentle and thoughtful young woman, who lived for her family and treasured her friendships.

‘Sarah – Mummy, granddaughter, sister, friend – in death as in life, she has touched so many hearts, far and wide, as has her baby, Liam Arthur’.