More than 400 people flocked to St. Mark the Evangelist Church on Dorchester Ave. last Thursday morning for a funeral Mass for Ciaran Conneely, a 36-year-old emigrant from Galway’s Aran Islands who was found shot to death on Columbus Day on a typically quiet side street near Adams Corner.

Conneely was himself remembered as a quiet man who had come to call Boston home 12 years ago and had no intention of ever leaving. The longtime pastor of St. Mark’s, Rev. Daniel J. Finn, a native of Kanturk, Co. Cork, celebrated the Mass, which included prayers in Irish and English.

Dan O’Connor, 86, of Milton, attended the funeral, even though he had never met Conneely. A native of Co. Kerry, Mr. O’Connor emigrated to the United States in 1947— and served the United States during the Korean War. At times like this, O’Connor said, the Boston Irish community pulls together in a special way.

“It was unbelievable to see this packed church, a real credit to the Irish,” said O’Connor.

Austin O’Malley, 72, lives in the same Dorchester neighborhood where Conneely was gunned down. He knew Conneely by sight from his daily visits to the Greenhills bakery in Adams Corner.

“This is our home,” said O’Malley, who emigrated to the States at age 18. “I didn’t know him well personally, but I’m here because we’ve got to respect and bury our dead and have healing for our community. This community is so hurt by what happened and there’s too much of this happening in our city. I wanted to be here to pray for healing. I wish there was more we could do about it.”

James O’Sullivan, 47, of Dorchester was an acquaitance of “Kiwi” — as Conneely was widely known. “He was a quiet type of guy. He’d never harm anybody,” said O’Sullivan.

A Cork native, O’Sullivan says that the murder is a cruel reminder of the dangers of city life. “It was our dream to come to America and it’s so unfortunate that this is the way that dream ended for one of us,” said O’Sullivan. “You think you’re safe walking — even late at night and Irish people in particular think that. Unfortunately, it’s not.”

O’Sullivan said he’d attended a community meeting in Dorchester on Tuesday in which Boston Police Captain Richard Sexton urged undocumented immigrants to come forward if they were ever targeted by criminals, assuring those assembled that local authorities will not inquire about the victim’s immigration status.

O’Sullivan acknowledged that some undocumented Irish remain worried about stepping “out of the shadows.”

“Unfortunately, living here and not being legal, the last place you want to go is to the law. You open up a book that hasn’t been opened in a long time,” said O’Sullivan.

Michael Folan, a longtime parishioner at St. Mark’s, knew Kiwi well. Folan said that his nickname was the result of an American co-worker who had trouble pronouncing his first name, Ciaran. “Kiwi was just an easy-going, happy-go-lucky guy,” said Folan. “He was welcome in any company. He would have been proud to see the Irish flag and the Galway flag flying outside of St. Mark’s this morning.”

Boston Police are still investigating the homicide, which is one of 23 that have occurred in Dorchester so far this year.