In 1997, Billy and Bridie Miller made the difficult decision to say goodbye to their 15-year-old son Liam, who left Ovens having caught the eye of football scouts across the Irish Sea.

He was remembered as a family man above all else. Remembered for his life off the pitch, rather than on it.

Before the Requiem Mass, a long, solemn hush settled in a packed St John the Baptist Church in Ovens, Cork, yesterday.