Shane MacGowan’s funeral takes place Friday, December 8, in Nenagh, Ireland, and his friend Philip “Philly” Ryan, owner of JJ Ryan Undertakers, the business that’s handling the service, says he’s planning “a good send-off” for the late Pogues singer.
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MacGowan’s late mother, Therese, grew up in Nenagh, and Ryan’s business also handled her funeral. The undertaker told Billboard in a phone interview that the singer had shared with him how he wanted his own funeral to be arranged.
“He kept it simple. He wanted it the same as his mother’s,” Ryan revealed. “A private few prayers and a rosary. A public mass and a private cremation.”
Ryan also happens to own the pub that’s located across the street from his funeral parlor, which he said was MacGowan’s favorite pub in Ireland. He told Billboard that the watering hole will be paying special tribute to the singer tomorrow.
“We’re going to convert the lounge into the Shane MacGowan Lounge,” he revealed. “We’re going to do something memorable for him.”
MacGowan was known for his boisterous personality onstage when he was performing, but Ryan said he was very different when he was offstage.
“He was a shy guy behind it all and he loved to come in [to my pub] and just while the time away with the locals,” he revealed. “Some stories and laughing. He’d never get up and sing and take over the place.”
He added, “Shane was a very, very quiet and gentle person and very kind. Very conscientious. Look, I suppose we all have our moments when we’re on a bender, but I can tell you he was a gentleman.”
Ryan told Billboard that 5,000 to 10,000 people were expected to attend MacGowan’s funeral mass, which will take place Friday afternoon at St. Mary of the Rosary Church. According to The Irish Times, MacGowan’s body will be transported through the streets of Dublin by a horse-drawn carriage earlier in the day, and a similar procession will take place around Nenagh following the service. The funeral also will be streamed live on MacGowan’s Facebook and X pages.
Ryan also told Billboard that speakers will be set up so that the overflow of people at the church will be able to hear the service outside.
Meanwhile, local official Marcus O’Connor told Billboard that some of MacGowan’s famous songs will be played over the public-address system in Nenagh as part of the commemoration.
MacGowan died on November 30 after a long illness. He was 65.
Photo by G. Gershoff/WireImage for New York Post
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