They came on foot, by car, by camper van and by Joey Dunlop's vehicle of choice. Around 50,000 mourners from all over the world converged on a quiet country church in Ballymoney, Co Antrim, yesterday for the funeral of the motorcycling legend who died during a race in Estonia last Sunday.
From early morning the crowds gathered under the gloomy skies around the Garryduff Presbyterian church and outside the home of their sporting hero, where wreaths shaped like motorbikes had been laid. They were here to pay respect to the man they called the people's champion, Northern Ireland's favourite son, the King of the Road.
Bikers roared past, several thousand of them, parking along both sides of a nearby boreen in a powerful visual tribute to Dunlop that stretched for more than a mile. Local farmers had turned fields into free car parks and marshalls patrolled the area in orange mechanics' overalls with black armbands.
Black leather was the funeral garb preferred by many of the mourners. Many who came on two wheels wore black shades and carried their helmets by their sides. As a private family service got under way in the Dunlop family home, neighbours, friends and fans took up positions on either side of the long, straight Garryduff Road where Dunlop used to test his bikes before races. Some had brought deck chairs and sat drinking from flasks and eating sandwiches while waiting patiently for the service to begin.
At around 3.30 p.m. the funeral cortege, followed by Dunlop's widow Linda and their five children Julie, Donna, Gary, Richard and Joanne, made its way to the church. In scenes reminiscent of the funeral of Princess Diana, some threw flowers on to the hearse as it passed.
A silence lasted all through the funeral service and burly bikers wiped tears from their eyes as they remembered the man many described as their idol. There was room for only 250 people in the church and a public address system transmitted the service to the thousands standing outside. As the Rev John Kirkpatrick, honorary chaplain to the Motor Cycle Union of Ireland, paid tribute to Dunlop, the only sound was the muffled sobs of men, women and children.
Mr Kirkpatrick said the Dunlop family had found great "comfort and consolation" in the thousands who, he said, were a fitting tribute "for one who loved the roads and the quiet of his own thoughts". Since news of his death, he said, there had been "an expressing of corporate loss, as if we have all lost someone personally dear to us - the people's champion".
Honda UK boss Mr Robert McMillen paid tribute to Dunlop, describing him as a man of passion and grit, determination and humility ". . . and I'm sure he never knew how great a star he was," he said. The Rev John Gilkinson presided over the service.
Mourners had come from almost every county in Ireland and from across the globe - Estonia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Netherlands and the Isle of Man, where Dunlop won 26 TT roadraces. Around 15 members of the Gormanstown-based Lost Riders Motor Cycle Club of Ireland wore T-shirts specially produced for the occasion - black with a yellow number three, Dunlop's racing number, on the front. They had left Dublin in a cavalcade of motorbikes at 8.30 a.m.
"He was the greatest roadracer who ever lived, we have followed him all over, now we are following him to his grave," said Gearoid Hoare of Wexford. Joe Carey from Balbriggan said he was a "huge idol". They said the turnout yesterday reminded them of the numbers who regularly travelled to see him race. "We would be waving our programmes at him and cheering from the ditches," one said. When Dunlop passed them for the last time yesterday, they simply bowed their heads.
Among the mourners inside the church were the Minister for Sport and Tourism, Dr McDaid, the UK Minister for Sport, Ms Kate Hoey, the North's Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mr Michael McGimpsey, and the Isle of Man Sports Minister, Mr David Cretney. The President, Mrs McAleese, sent an envoy with a message of condolence for the Dunlop family.
Afterwards, people marvelled at the large numbers saying it was the biggest funeral Northern Ireland had ever seen. Locals had been preparing for the crowds all day making sandwiches and cups of tea which they laid out in the church hall when the service ended. There, after a private burial ceremony, those who came to mourn Joey Dunlop at Garryduff Road paid their own informal tributes to an extraordinary man.