A private and even shy man despite his decades in public life

DR HILLERY was a private and even shy man despite the decades he spent in public life, mourners at his funeral mass heard.

The late president’s sense of fairness, kindness and hard work had been based on values he grew up with at home and developed through life, said his nephew, Fr Des Hillery.

Delivering the homily at the Pro-Cathedral, he said Dr Hillery was a person “guided by faith”, who counted among his favourite pieces of scripture the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.