Up to 1,000 people converged on St Patrick's Church in the tiny South Armagh village to say farewell to the 21-year-old.

The lorry driver was bludgeoned to death by a gang of masked men wielding iron bars and pickaxe handles in a remote County Monaghan shed on Saturday.

Virtually every bone in his body was broken in the savage and relentless attack.

Speaking on behalf of the Quinn family, Father Kevin Cullen, who said Mass, called for no retaliation.

"There is a lot of anger in the community that someone so young has been so cruelly taken from us," he said.

"To discover that he had been bludgeoned to death with iron bars ... somehow or other the goodness of life goes out of us.

"We ask for no retaliation and for Paul to rest in peace."

Prayers of the faithful were dedicated to Paul's girlfriend, Emma, who was with him when he was attacked and his best friend, Brendan McCooey (18), who died two months ago while on holiday with him in Greece.

Speakers positioned in the church grounds allowed the priest's sombre message to be heard by mourners standing outside the church. Addressing the crowd the priest described Mr Quinn's death as "a barbaric crime and deeply sinful ".

Just before mass ended, Mr Quinn's girlfriend dedicated an emotional poem as a tribute to him then his mother spoke of "her loving son", telling him to "sleep peacefully" and promising that they would soon be together again.

Throughout the service a picture of Paul sat on the altar, with a picture of Cullyhanna placed beneath.

Following the service the funeral cortege made its way to the adjoining cemetery and towards Mr Quinn's final resting place.

He was buried in a plot close to his best friend, Mr McCooey.

Among the politicians who attended the service were SDLP Deputy Leader Alistair McDonald and his party colleague Dominic Bradley.