Trailblazing writer Edna O’Brien has been remembered as a “brave” and “feisty” woman, as well as a “profound family person” at her funeral this morning. 

Ms O’Brien was honoured at her funeral at St Joseph's Church in her native Tuamgraney, Co Clare, this morning. 

President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina joined Ms O'Brien's two sons Carlo and Marcus and the wider family at the funeral. 

Ms O’Brien died at the age of 93 on July 27th at her home in London following a long-term illness. 

Remembering Ms O’Brien, the priest said she “had both public and a private life” that should be acknowledged. 

“The first value that she had was as a profound family person - a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother,” he said. 

“Her giving remains with you all, and I'm sure in time to come, you will think about it, that huge resilience of not giving up that kept her going all her life. 

“She did experience many challenges during her long life, but there was something feisty in her, just like her voice that didn't give up.” 

Edna O'Brien in 1974. Image: Album / British Library / Alamy Stock Photo

He said Ms O’Brien “held up a mirror for us in a very narrow time in Ireland”. 

“She attuned to us what was important,” he said. “She brought to us experiences long before anybody else did it in a way, particularly the experience of women and the hardships that women faced in a silent way. 

“We undermined her, isolated her, and we rejected her message. 

“When you stand out at any moment and any time, you find yourself isolated quite quickly, and we did that, and that is to our shame as a society and as a Church.  

“She was brave, though, and she kept going - shared hard truths with us, and she paid the price.” 

Edna O'Brien book signing in the bookshop at Hay Festival 2016. Image: Jeff Morgan 16 / Alamy Stock Photo

He noted that Ms O’Brien’s son Carlo had said his mother was “enmeshed in her tradition of literature”. 

“She saw herself as part of a long tradition of writing, and she wanted always to advance that tradition,” he said. 

“She was deeply committed to it right up to the last moments of her life.” 

During the procession of symbols, her grandson Oscar presented the Irish author's French Legion of Honour to represent a "lifetime of extraordinary achievement". 

Other items offered included a Buddha to represent Ms O’Brien’s life as a “deeply spiritual” woman, a copy of James Joyce's Ulysses and a portrait of the late author Samuel Beckett, a friend of Ms O'Brien. 

Flowers from the garden of Drewsborough House, her childhood home in Tuamgraney, were also offered. 

Ms O’Brien will be buried on Holy Island on Lough Derg, a monastic site where other natives of Clare have been buried.