Family, friends and celebrities send Stephen off with dignity
Michael Clifford
The remaining members of Boyzone and two of Stephen's brother carry his coffin from the church
Locals pay their tribute
TV actor Chris Bisson
Stephen's mother Margaret
TV presenter Vanessa Feltz
Brian McFadden
Jason Donovan
Kian Egan
David Furnish, husband of Elton John
Stephen Gately received a send-off befitting his persona yesterday. The funeral mass at St Lawrence O'Toole Church in Dublin's Sherrif Street was filled with contributions from family and friends, but devoid of any vulgarity or celebrity driven pap.
Outside, the streets where he grew up were lined with local people, many holding a single white rose, well-wishers, fans and a large media contingent. Seville Place was cordoned off by barriers, behind which a crowd of indeterminate size looked on and listened to the mass being relayed by a PA system from inside the church.
Some gardaí put the crowd's size at 3,500, but at times it looked as if there might be less than half that number in attendance.
They are accustomed to burying their dead young in the inner city area where Gately grew up. Drugs and crime have leavened a heavy toll on the area.
This was different.
Here was one of their own who had beaten the odds, realised dreams that are harboured by children everywhere and conducted himself thereafter in a manner that did his family and people proud. As one newspaper observed last week, there were no airs about Gately, just grace. Now he was back in the church where he had been baptised, dead at 33, decades stolen from him by a vicious twist of fate.
One of the first to arrive at the cordoned-off church was Bertie Ahern. He worked the street, shaking hands to beat the band, his protoge Cyprian Brady in tow.
Most of the others who had landed a spot in the 560 capacity church arrived in a more low key manner. Mercs, BMWs and minibuses with tinted windows pulled up outside the gate and black suited men and women wearing dark glasses got out and went in pronto. Louis Walsh did emerge a few minutes before the ceremony to address the media.
Across the road, from the first floor of a block of flats, a sheet was unfurled proclaiming: "Farewell Stephen from ya old friends".
Parish priest Father Declan Blake said mass. He opened up with words for the bereaved. "We remember Andrew, his parents... his second family, Boyzone."
Tony Kenny sang 'Alleluia' at the request of Stephen's mother Margaret. More family members including Keith Duffy's son Jordan recited the prayers of the faithful. For the offertory procession, a number of items symbolising Stephen's life and loves were brought to the altar.
These included a menu and top hat from the day of his marriage to Andrew Cowles; a microphone; a book in memory of the children's book he was writing at the time of his death; a jar of moisturiser. "Stephen loved his products," as the congregation were told; and a lily in memory of his love of nature. Later Ronan Keating sang a song entitled 'This Life'.
At the conclusion of the mass, the surviving members of Boyzone paid tribute to their dead friend. "Sixteen years ago, Louis Walsh created a band, we created a friendship," Keith Duffy began. Shane Lynch and Mikey Graham followed. In the course of the tribute, it was revealed that all the band members had spent the night in the church with their dead friend, wrapped up in sleeping bags "until one of us started to snore".
Keating finished the tribute with difficulty as he struggled to get the better of his emotions. "A beautiful man who is now the perfect angel... a man, a friend, a brother, a son and a hero. We're going to miss you, brother."
Afterwards, Stephen's brothers and his boyzbrothers carried him out to the hearse.
Along with the widowed Andrew, they stood together, arms locked around each other, behind the coffin as it rested in the hearse. Then the cortege moved off, bringing the body to Glasnevin Cemetary for cremation.
October 18, 2009
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