Shane MacGowan funeral – latest: Johnny Depp, Bono and Bob Geldof give readings at Tipperary service
The Fairytale of New York singer will be given a private cremation in Nenagh
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Thousands of mourners including Irish leaders and the country’s biggest celebrities have gathered to pay their respects to Shane MacGowan, the iconic singer of The Pogues, on Friday.
The irrepressible frontman, known for songs including “Fairytale of New York” and “Pair of Brown Eyes”, died last week aged 65. Songs by the band are already playing on loop in the town of Nenagh, where a public mass will be held on Friday at 3.30pm ahead of a private cremation.
It comes after his widow Victoria Mary Clarke said the cause of Shane’s death was pneumonia. MacGowan had suffered from a number of health issues over the years, and had recently been discharged from hospital in Dublin, where he was being treated for encephalitis.
She posted: “Shane hated funerals and he refused to go to them with a few rare exceptions.
“So it’s incredible to think that so many people want to come to his and that so many beautiful people are pouring their hearts and souls into making it magnificent and magical and memorable for him and for us who are left behind.”
The Pogues play The Parting Glass
MacGowan’s former bandmates in The Pogues - Jem Finer, Terry Woods, Spider Stacey and James Fearnley - play one of the service’s final songs, the traditional “The Parting Glass”
Shane’s widow Victoria Mary Clarke delivers warm, funny eulogy filled with love
Victoria Mary Clarke’s eulogy for her late husband sparkles with warmth, charm and love.
Among the many brilliant anecdotes from Shane’s life, many of which were fuelled by copious amounts of drugs and alcohol, was this one from the months he spent in hospital before the end:
“Shane got actual physical, visceral bursts out of the Holy Communion, which was almost as good as a drug for him,” Clarke said. “He just loved it. He absolutely loved it. When he was in the hospital, we had the Holy Communion in a little receptacle on his hospital table. One of the priests came in, and I said: ‘Oh, nice that you came in. Shane’s very religious, he’ll be delighted to see you. He takes the Holy Communion every day.’ The priest was horrified! ‘What do you mean? How can he possibly take the Holy Communion every day? Where do you get it?’ I wasn’t going to tell him where he gets it. I’m not going to reveal his sources. The priest said: ‘That’s illegal!’ You’re not allowed to have the Holy Communion every day. So the priest had to confiscate his Holy Communion. I thought, he must be the only man in the world to have been busted for Holy Communion.”
Shane’s sister Siobhan delivers sweet, heartfelt eulogy
Shane’s sister, Siobhan MacGowan, says: “I think my brother would have enjoyed that send-off”, after the musicians have finished their rousing performance. After thanking all those involved in organising the funeral, Siobhan recounts her memories of growing up with Shane.
“I had early warning that my brother was somewhat precocious,” she recalls, telling a story about the moment an 11-year-old Shane told her, at 6, that she must be a surrealist because she’d decided to colour in a tree with blue crayons.
She pays tribute to Shane’s achievements in becoming the singer of songs and teller of stories. “When the President put that award in his hands, he knew he had achieved that dream”, Siobhan said.
She closes with Shane’s own words, from “The Body of an American”:
“And as the sunset came to meet, the evening on the hill I told you I’d always love you, I always did, I always will.”
Glen Hansard and Lisa O’Neill sing ‘Fairytale of New York'
A gorgeous version of ‘Fairytale of New York’, sung by Glenn Hansard and Lisa O’Neill with the backing of a full Irish band, sparks an outbreak of dancing and waltzing in the aisles of the church.
Mourners line up to take communion as the choir sings Irish hymns. Still to come: a rendition of “Fairytale of New York”, and eulogies from Siobhan MacGowan (Shane’s sister) and Victoria Mary Clarke (Shane’s widow).
Funeral attendees acknowledge each other with a sign of peace before members of the church take communion.
WATCH: Shane MacGowan's widow shows items singer wanted taking at his funeral
Father Pat Gilbert delivers the Eucharist Prayer.
More music now – it’s Caít O’Riordan and John Francis Flynn with “I’m A Man You Don’t Meet Every Day”.
After saluting MacGowan’s coffin with the word “maestro”, Depp delivered a prayer for “peace, love and forgiveness”. Others followed with prayers for doctors and nurses, the homeless, and people suffering addiction.
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