sisters' bond
Ashling Murphy’s tragic final post revealed before ‘murder’ while jogging along canal
TRAGIC primary school teacher Ashling Murphy revealed the joy she felt playing music with her sister in a heartbreaking last post before she was killed.
The 23-year-old shared a video of the pair playing the fiddle and concertina with the caption: "Happiest when..."
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In the three-minute clip, Ashling and sister Amy perform a traditional Irish song in what looks like a home kitchen.
Ashling appears engrossed in the music, with her eyes closed and a smile on her face.
The video, shared on Facebook in July 2020, was the last public post she wrote personally before her body was found on a canal bank in Tullamore, Co Offaly, almost 18 months later.
Jozef Puska, 31, has been charged with her murder at around 4pm on January 12.
Emotional tributes have flooded in since her death, with hundreds of mourners gathering in the village of Mountbolus and outside St Brigid's Church, where her funeral was held on Tuesday.
The priest said Ashling's family had been robbed of their "most precious gift".
Amy described her sister as "the light of our lives and the heart of our family".
Ashling's grief-stricken partner Ryan Casey also paid a graveside tribute to his girlfriend, declaring: "She will always be my soulmate."
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He went on to describe his girlfriend of five years as a "shining light" and the "greatest love of my life".
"She was always there, always willing to help anybody, anywhere, at any time and always put herself last," he added.
"She had so many hobbies and talents which all combined to make her an incredible, loving, beautiful person we were all so lucky to know and loved to spend as much time with as possible.
"Ashling was so much more to me than a girlfriend. She was my soulmate, she is my soulmate, she will always be my soulmate.
"She is the greatest love of my life. I will cherish the last five years we spent together my entire life.
"I hope that someday, God willing, we can be reunited once more and continue the great plans we had made for each other.
"Goodbye for now but not forever darling, as you will live on in all of our hearts and memories."
'GOODBYE FOR NOW BUT NOT FOREVER'
A number of items were brought up to the altar to represent Ashling's life, including a fiddle to highlight her love of music.
Other symbols included a treasured family photo, a camogie jersey from her athletics club and a school book in a nod to her teaching career.
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James Hogan, Principal of Durrow National School where Ashling worked, said she as "one in a million".
He told RTE's News At One: "She was with us a short time and she just fitted in so well. That'll tell you the type of person she was.
"Her personality, her bubbliness, her smile, her talent and she would reach out to any child in our community and had a great rapport with them and network with the parents.
"Anyone that knows Ashling, not only in the school setting but across the county, I've had calls from different countries of music related.
"She was one in a million and had so much going for her and to think that it's been all taken away from her, unplanned. It's just heartbreaking."
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And former principal of the school, Frank Kelly, also said she was "adored" by the children.
Vigils have been held across Ireland and the world to remember Ashling and to call for a change in tackling gender-based violence.
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Murder Victim Ashling Murphy was 'exceptionally talented' Irish traditional music player & taught music to children
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