The President, Mrs McAleese, led the mourners at the funeral of the playwright, novelist and poet John B. Keane on Saturday.
Representatives of the literary, sporting, political and entertainment worlds, as well as friends and neighbours, packed St Mary's Church to overflowing for Requiem Mass concelebrated by the Bishop of Kerry, Dr Bill Murphy, and 25 priests.
Tributes were paid to John B. Keane by the actress Ms Anna Manahan, for whom he wrote Big Maggie, his son, Mr Billy Keane, and a life-long friend, Father Kieran O'Shea, parish priest of Knocknagoshel. From mid-morning until his burial some hours later in Listowel Old Cemetery, the Co Kerry town came to a standstill in a final farewell to a man who was a renowned literary genius but also a genial local publican and a familiar and friendly sight on its streets for decades.
In his homily, Father O'Shea noted that the Sermon on the Mount was John B. Keane's favourite passage from the Gospels. "John B. built his life around that sermon. But if any part of Jesus' words meant more to him than the others, it was those which spoke of mercy and forgiveness. John B. was constantly preaching this."
Father O'Shea said that his genius had begun to blossom by the late 1950s. "I remember one night, in early 1959, I called to his house. He was on his way to theListowel Drama Group's rehearsal of Sive, and he asked me to come along.
"Even at that early stage, one knew that Sive would be a winner. It caught people's imagination. It was performed in almost every parish. It has helped to build many a parish hall, presbytery and church."
After the Mass, a guard-of-honour, representative of his literary and sporting connections, and a large crowd accompanied the hearse through the streets to the cemetery. The coffin was draped in the black and amber colours of his local GAA club.
People lined the route in a last farewell to a man whose fame extended far beyond the boundaries of his native town. Memorabilia marking his life and times were placed on the windows of the shops which had closed as a mark of respect.
At the cemetery, the Fine Gael TD for Kerry North and former county GAA footballer, Mr Jimmy Deenihan, who had been encouraged on his political and sporting careers by John B. Keane, paid tribute to his old friend and remarked on the happy hours he had spent in the nearby football field since childhood.
The oration was delivered by his friend since national school, Mr Danny Hannon, of the Lartigue Theatre, who described John B. Keane as restless, opinionated, ambitious and provocative.
"He was a genius. But he was an approachable genius. Every visitor to this town considered their cup filled to overflowing if they could shake his hand and have a chat with him, because he was a man of great grace, manners and personal charm.
"He was the major writer of the 20th century, he explored every aspect of writing and left an indelible mark on the pages of Irish literature."
For 50 years, he added, John B. Keane had his fingers on the texture of Irish life and revealed to an astonished world the taste and authentic sound of a unique people who battled on the margins of life, Big Maggie Polpin, Mena Glavin, Bull McCabe, Hiker Lacey, Dinsie Conlee, Pats Bococ.
"They are all now part of the Irish psyche, and if not always pretty, he still energised their lives with his vivid writing and enthralled audiences and readers all over the world."
The chief mourners were John B. Keane's wife, Mary, his sons, Billy, Conor and John, daughter Joanna, brothers Michael and Denis, and sisters Peg, Sheila and Anne.
Among the large attendance at the church and cemetery were former Taoiseach Dr Garret Fitz-Gerald, the former Labour leader and Tánaiste, Mr Dick Spring, Mr Phil Hogan TD, Mr Brian Crowley, MEP, Senator Dan Kiely and Senator Michael Lanigan.
Among the GAA personalities present were the organisation's president-elect, Mr Sean Kelly, its public relations officer, Mr Danny Lynch, the Kerry football team trainer, Mr Paudi Ó Sé, and the county's star of the 1960s, Mr Mick O'Connell. The rugby player, Mr Mick Galwey, was also there.
Others present were the director-general of RTÉ, Mr Bob Collins,the artistic director of the Abbey Theatre, Mr Ben Barnes, the actor Patrick Bergin, the entertainers Ronnie Drew and Paddy Reilly, the broadcaster and journalist Vincent Browne, the chairman of Kerry Group Plc, Mr Denis Brosnan, and a former Supreme Court judge, Mr Hugh O'Flaherty.
