Nenagh gives 'some sendoff' to legendary singer and songwriter Shane MacGowan

Thousands of fans joined Shane MacGowan’s family in Nenagh this Friday for a final farewell to the singer who has been described more than once as a “bard of our times”.

Shane passed away on November 30, just 26 days short of his 66th birthday following a long illness.

Among the throngs who packed St Mary of the Rosary in Church in Nenagh were A-list celebrities and ordinary people. 

This was a funeral that the family insisted be open  to the public - and the public did not disappoint in giving Shane a sendoff that will be remembered for generations.

It was also a measure of the man’s love of his Tipperary roots that the world came to his native Nenagh to remember and celebrate a life that has gifted the world some of the most incredible songs and words for the past 40 years.

The Requiem Mass, sprinkled with Shane’s songs, was celebrated by Nenagh co-parish priest Fr Pat Gilbert, who also administers in Puckane, where Shane’s mother’s family come from and where he spent some of his early childhood, and Silvermines, where his parents, Therese and Maurice bought a house when they returned to Ireland.

Welcoming the likes of actors Johnny Depp and Aidan Gillen, and musicians Imelda May, John Sheahan, Mundy, Lisa O’Neill, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Glen Hansard, Cáit O’Riordan and other surviving members of The Pogues, as well as President Michael D Higgins and other politicians, Fr Gilbert reached out and said that they were also welcoming the world to Shane’s service.

“Most of all we offer sympathy and love and prayers to Shane’s family and friends,” he said.

Fr Gilbert recalled how Shane’s mother, Therese, used to come to Mass at St Mary’s and would often light a candle.

The first reading from the Book of Songs was read by former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, who before doing the reading, offered words of gratitude for Shane’s songs, creativity, attitude, intelligence and compassion.

He was thankful of Shane’s poet’s eye for justice and injustice, lifting us out of ourselves.

“He was our Gile Mear,” he said in reference to the Irish song of the same name.

Imelda May and Declan O’Rourke were joined by Liam Ó Maonlaí for You’re the One while John Sheahan of The Dubliners and Jem Finer of The Pogues played while the offertory procession was being carried out.

If the stars were out for the occasion, the funeral was tempered by its ordinariness - it could have been any family funeral saying goodbye to a loved one and the gifts brought to the altar to mark Shane’s life reflected this.

Among the gifts were a box of Barrys Tea, because he loved to drink tea; a Buddha and a Madonna reflecting his spirituality; a Led Zeppelin album to reflect his own music tastes; and two books - Finnegans Wake and An Béal Bocht - to reflect his love of reading. 

His wife, Victoria, added a gift of her own, a copy of The Graces, a novel by Shane’s sister Siobhán.

Camille O’Sullivan and Mundy sang an amazing version of Haunted before Aidan Gillen read from the Book of Revelations, with Nick Cave performing A Rainy Night in Soho beige Cór Cúl Aodh sang the psalm The Lord is My Shepherd in Irish.

Bono was not able to attend but did a record reading from the Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians before Fr Gilbert read the gospel, the resurrection of Lazarus, reminding the gathering that "death is not the end".

In his homily, he reflected how his family will miss him now that his voice and his presence among you has been lost.

“I know he adored you, Victoria, and you carried, cared and caressed him right to the very end,” he said.

Few could ever have imagined Johnny Depp reading a Prayer for the Faithful in Nenagh, but he did and was joined by the likes of Cáit O’Riordan before Communion.

The unrivalled joy of Lisa O’Neill, Glen Hansard, The Pogues and various musicians singing Fairytale of New York afterwards was emotional for everyone present.

In her tribute, Shane’s sister Siobhán, described the ceremony as “some sendoff for my brother”.

Thanking everyone who had cared for Shane and who had contributed to the service, she said: “It is lovely and fitting that this was in St Mary’s. This is where our mother came to Mass every Sunday and Shane accompanied her when he was home.”

She also thanked President Higgins for bestowing a Lifetime Achievement Award on Shane for his 60th birthday, saying it meant more to him than any other award.

In her tribute, Shane’s wife, Victoria Mary Clarke spoke of his love, respect and admiration for his own family and how his death had come  as a huge shock as they believed he would pull through his latest illness.

“We did believe he would come,” she said.