The family of Anna Byrne, the Irish mother pregnant with twins who last week took her own life, are utterly stunned by the tragic loss, Fr Kit Sheridan told the congregation at her funeral mass on Saturday in Dublin.

The 35-year-old mother of two was in the final term of her pregnancy when she took her own life at Howth Summit last Wednesday.

Hundreds of mourners piled into the the Church of the Resurrection in her native Bayside, Dublin.

The mother of two sons, Joe and Aidan, and wife of Terry was described as “beautiful gentle Anna”.

"What has happened is beyond comprehension. Now we search for light in the darkness. And we hope and pray and believe that Anna will experience, along with the twins, peace eternally. We ask God the loving father to receive them in his loving arms in a place where there is no sorrow, no crying, no pain but the fullness of peace," said Fr Sheridan.

"Silence is not just an empty thing. It's not just an absence of words. Sometimes it is a totally appropriate response in the face of death, and especially in Anna's tragic death. Our silence this evening is respectful and it is a sacred thing. It would be foolish to try and fill that silence with empty words," he added.

The nurse was last seen on Wednesday morning at her home in Dunboyne. The alarm was raised when she failed to collect her son from the crehe, near the family home, later that evening.

Her brother Ciaran Deeney, who works in film production, organized a late-night search. He desperately tried to get the message out and sought help for their search. He tweeted: "People. My heavily pregnant sister expecting twins has gone missing, possibly in Dun Laoghaire area. Please RT "[re-tweet]. "A call went out on the 9 o'clock news for my heavily pregnant sister who is missing. Nissan Micra 99D**** Sea Blue".

Anna’s car was later found at Howth Head. Her body was discovered by a police helicopter the following morning close to rocks some 100 feet from the sea close to the Bailey Lighthouse.