"I look at the heartache and the anguish and the pain that has been caused to this family, " said Fr Patrick Reilly, who celebrated Manik's funeral mass at St Patrick's Church in Donabate, Co Dublin. "And if I can say one thing to the young people, it is this: don't do it. Please don't do that to your family."

Donabate came to a standstill yesterday morning as hundreds of mourners lined the streets to pay their respects to Manik, a "gentle caring soul" who had "an intensity beyond her years."

A highly academic student at St Dominic's High School in Sutton, Manik received six As and four Bs in her Junior Cert exam results on Wednesday.

She died later that day after being hit by a train at Howth Junction Dart station.

"Manik is at peace now, " Fr O'Reilly told her father Donal, Sri Lankan mother Ramali and younger siblings Erandhi and Daniel. "She doesn't need our help anymore. We are here today for you."

Prayers of the faithful were offered for Manik's grandmother, who is seriously ill in Sri Lanka and has not been told of her granddaughter's death.

President Mary McAleese sent her "deepest sympathies" to the Murphy family and said they were in her thoughts.

Mourners packed the church and spilled out of the entrances. They had been asked not to bring flowers but instead to make a donation to one of Manik's favourite charities, the DSPCA, if they wished.

Teenage girls cried in their mothers' arms as Manik's classmates formed a guard of honour for their dead friend. Why such a beautiful, talented and popular girl took her own life is a mystery to everyone.

Her best friend Rebecca dissolved into tears as she described Manik's favourite belongings, which were brought up as gifts in the offertory procession.

"Manik loved her GHD hair straightener, " she said through her tears. "She always straightened her long hair and never let a curl escape." Manik was a talented soccer player and several football jerseys were brought up, as well as her Junior Cert art project.

The first sign that something was wrong with Manik came when she wrote a note to her friend on Wednesday. Her friend alerted the school authorities immediately. They then contacted Manik's parents and gardai in Swords, but they were too late to prevent her death.

"Manik was a wonderfully intelligent girl, " her uncle told the congregation. His niece had "an intensity" and "a conviction in her beliefs far beyond her years." He said she had always stood up against injustice and felt strongly about protecting the planet and endangered species.

"I ask her friends to continue to put forward her beliefs and to work for what she believed in, " he said.

As Manik's coffin was brought out of the church, her heartbroken mother Ramali had to be physically supported by her husband and Manik's brother, Daniel, looked in bewilderment at his sister's coffin.

They then followed the hearse on foot to lay their "talented and caring" daughter to rest.