Devastated family of glamorous bikini designer found dead on New York yacht gather for her funeral as cops continue to probe mysterious death
Martha Nolan-O'Slatarra, 33, who was originally from Carlow but lived in Manhattan, was discovered unconscious on a vessel at Montauk Yacht Club in the early hours of August 5.
She was pronounced dead at the scene and the cause of her death is yet to be confirmed.
Mourners gathered 'from so many parts to be here to support Martha's family', the priest told the congregation.
Among the symbols brought forward to represent Martha's life was her passport, her brand East x East, a makeup bag and brushes, the Irish and U.S. flags, and a tin whistle to symbolise her love of musical instruments.
Also brought to the altar was St Martha's prayer, which her mother Elma recites every Tuesday.
The night before she died, the self-made entrepreneur is understood to have headed to the luxury Montauk Yacht Club to speak with 60-year-old insurance mogul, Christopher Durnan.
But the evening ended in horror when the American business man dashed down the dock naked around midnight screaming for help and indicating that Martha had passed out.
Bystanders dialed 911 and clambered on board the boat named Ripple to try and perform CPR on the bikini designer, but she was declared dead at the scene by first responders.
U.S. detectives have said an initial post-mortem examination 'did not show evidence of violence and her final cause of death is pending further investigation'.
The grief-stricken family of the fashion founder travelled from Ireland to the U.S. to demand a second-opinion autopsy into her cause of death.
They engaged a top lawyer in the U.S. - whose client list includes Harvey Weinstein and former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon - to discover what happened to Martha.
The final post-mortem report, which will include toxicological, histological and other testing, which will take at least three months to conclude.
The family's lawyer, criminal defence attorney Arthur Aidala, said they had met with Suffolk County homicide detectives who were conducting a thorough investigation, and that people are still being questioned.
'There is still a very intense investigation focused on why a young woman is dead,' he said, reported the Irish Independent.
'The autopsy report did show that there was no signs of a struggle, no defensive wounds on her hands, no obvious signs of trauma.
'The medical examiner is really focusing now on her blood and the other fluids that are being sent to toxicology to see what's going on.
'There were rumours that she possibly had some form of brain cancer and that is being investigated as well.'
During a telephone call in the days following Martha's death, it is understood that her mother was asked by detectives about claims that her daughter had brain cancer.
The fashionista's mother, who kept close contact with her daughter on an almost daily basis, was astounded by the claims and told detectives her daughter was 'perfectly healthy', the Irish Independent reported.
'She told them there was nothing of the sort [affecting her],' a source said.
It is not known who disclosed the information to the detectives.
Martha had spoken to her boyfriend - who was out of town when the tragedy unfolded - just hours before she died, assuring him she was going to book an Uber and would be home at around 1 am.
It is understood that the designer and 34-year-old sales exec Nicholas DiRubio had been staying in the Montauk area for the summer.
Daily Mail can reveal Nolan-O'Slattara had met insurance mogul Christopher Durnan aboard his boat for a late night business meeting when she suddenly passed out
Nolan-O'Slatarra was previously revealed to have been in the middle of uncontested divorce proceedings from her husband but she had been dating boyfriend 34-year-old sales exec Nicholas DiRubio
The fashion entrepreneur lived an enviable life in Manhattan's Upper East Side, posting TikToks of herself sipping champagne, taking private jets and trips on helicopters with her boyfriend, who the Irish Independent said she planned to marry.
She had finalised her uncontested divorce from ex-husband Sam Ryan in April, according to court documents filed in New York Supreme Court.
Ambitious from a young age, she studied commerce at University College Dublin before completing a master's in digital marketing from the Smurfit Graduate School of Business.
'Carlow is a small town, I was the small-town girl who needed to get out to achieve her big dreams,' Martha said in an interview with the Irish Independent last year.
'I always knew I wanted to be successful, that I was money-driven, business-driven – and that fashion is a tough industry and it would be a slow road.'
She worked in Ireland until 2015 before moving to the U.S., where she founded several companies, including fashion accessories brand Duper and luxury swimwear label East x East.
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