A man will be sentenced next week for the killing of his partner, whose body was found in the boot of a car weeks after she went missing in 2010.
Bernard Curran, 53, has admitted the manslaughter of 30-year-old Helen Donegan.
Ms Donegan was found dead in the boot of a car at a rented garage in a yard near Newcastle, Co Dublin, in June 2010.
She had missing for seven weeks from her rented home in Celbridge, Co Kildare, when her remains were discovered.
It was later established the mother of a 12-year-old son had been shot dead.
Curran, with an address at The Weir, Lucan, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty last December to her manslaughter, saying it had been unintentional. The court heard on a previous occasion that he had been feeling suicidal.
He claimed he had attempted to shoot himself, but she grabbed the gun and it went off killing her.
At the Central Criminal Court today, relatives of Ms Donegan spoke of the horror and grief they experienced when her remains were discovered. They said the accused had drunk tea with them during the weeks Helen was missing, while knowing all along where her remains were.
The court heard Ms Donegan had struggled with a drug problem, with a relative telling Mr Justice Paul Carney that her 81-year-old mother was still trying to come to terms with Helen's death.
She said that Ms Donegan's son was only 12 when she died and not alone lost his mother, but now hated the man he had once viewed as a father.
The court heard Curran had even taken the young man bowling while searches for his mother were under way.
Mr Justice Carney remanded Curran in custody for sentencing next Monday.
