"I used to say I was heartbroken. I now know what that really means"

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The father of Carla, Darragh and Conor McGinley has said the family will be "forever heartbroken" after their deaths.

A Mass of the Angels is taking place in Rathcoole for the siblings, aged three, seven and nine, who were murdered in their home in Dublin last Friday.

Andrew McGinley has thanked Lego, Marvel and Frozen for the joy they brought to his children's lives.

Andrew McGinley, is pictured with his children Conor, Darragh and Carla | Image: Supplied

You can read his full eulogy here:

I will struggle to get through this so please bear with me.

Apologies in advance for the tears and pauses that I will have to take to catch my breath.

Although we are in a House of God, no God should allow this to happen. Fr Kevin, when I spoke to you on Saturday I was filled with rage and anger but you spoke to me not about God’s plan or about angels, you spoke about love and compassion and understanding.

You may never know how much that meant and how it has carried me through this far.

So, for me we are not just in a House of God, we are in a House of Love and Friendship. And it will only be with your love, support, understanding and friendship that we, as a family McGinley and Morley, will get through this.

The past days have been hugely emotional but within that I have been able to reflect on the lives of our beloved Conor, Darragh and Carla. It got me thinking of the small pieces of their lives that came together to make them the wonderful children that they are.

Many of you will never know, until now, how much your everyday actions helped make my children’s lives more wonderful and helped us to allow Conor, Darragh and Carla to grow as the creative, funny and unique kids that they are and that it’s not just here in Newcastle, Saggart and Rathcoole, in Dublin or Donegal but sometimes even globally.

I need you all to know that and I need you all to understand so please bear with me and I hope you all hear this message.

To start;

Thank you, Lego.

If you saw Conor and Darragh’s bedroom you would know how much they adored Lego. What I need you all in Lego to understand is that you gave me precious time with my children to create not just the items in the instructions but also many weird and wonderful spaceships, many totally impractical multi-purpose vehicles and lots and lots of baddies lairs.

You gave them creativity but most of all you gave us joy together as a family. Please understand that and please continue to bring as much joy as you can to the children of the world.

Thank you, Stan Lee, R.I.P.

Thank you for your stories and characters. You fuelled our children’s imaginations. This brings me on to everyone in Marvel. Thank you for Ironman, Thor, Captain Marvel, Hulk and all the rest.

Thank you, Robert Downey Jnr and thank you Chris Hemsworth for bringing Ironman and Thor to life. My kids absolutely worshipped you both.

To Mark Ruffalo, Carla loved big friendly Hulk in Avengers Endgame and thanks for your bits of that film that I was able to show her.

So please understand the way your acting profession breeds children’s creativity and imagination and how you also bring them awe and wonder. Because of your films that they loved and could almost recite line by line, Conor had taken up drama class and he had recently been joined by Darragh there.