Mourners lined the route from singer-songwriter Liam Reilly's home in Dundalk on Thursday as his funeral cortege passed to St Joseph's Redemptorist Church.
Aapplause broke out as the Bagetelle singer’s coffin was removed from the hearse outside the church. Attendance at the funeral service was restricted in line with pandemic guidelines.
Mr Reilly (65) died suddenly on New Year’s Day.
His sister Evelyn recalled how she and her brother had won lots of medal at Feiseanna all over the country “which he sold to buy cigarettes. I went ballistic when I found out.”
Speaking at the end of the funeral Mass, she recalled how she had "watched him grow to become a successful songwriter and musician who travelled and performed all over the world" . She spoke of her pride "when he excelled himself representing Ireland in the Eurovision."
Her Reilly family’s lives were “diminished by the loss of our brother,” she said.
Mr Reilly’s younger sister Barbara said “we were so proud of him. He included us in everything and always introduced us with pride.”
Her brother, she said, “had such great strength and resilience. He survived many setbacks. But Liam was a delicate soul, very sensitive, which I feel is why he was such a good songwriter.
“Anyone who knew Liam well knows that, like all of us, he had his demons. He fought them right to the end, never giving up always, dealing with them with humour and strength.”
Mass celebrant and St Joseph's administrator Fr Noel Kehoe recalled how "there were a few interesting preludes" to Liam Reilly's career in music. "He began life after school studying to be a teacher. It wasn't to be and after that he went on to study international trade in Rathmines and so began his working career as a shipping executive".
But “Liam’s heart was in music and that meant having the courage to step out.”
He had been “steeped in the world of Irish traditional music” and “travelled the competitions circuit, arriving home with trophies after trophies, medals both for his piano accordion playing and indeed he was a nifty Irish dancer.”
He said that together with his friends in school John Christy, Kevin and Jim they formed their first band named Changes, inspired by the David Bowie classic of the same name. "Of course it was with Bagatelle that most of us have come to know Liam," he said.
Chief mourners were Liam Reilly's mother Teresa and sisters Evelyn, Barbara, Darina, and Paula.
Burial took place afterwards at St Patrick’s Cemetery Dundalk.
