John B. Keane's funeral in Listowel on Saturday had all the ingredients of his powerful dramas. There were tears, laughter, a sombre farewell to a much-loved family man and friend, anecdotes capturing the essence of the man, and music, song and prayer.
Commercial life came to a standstill in the north Kerry town, as large crowds marched behind the hearse to the Old Cemetery and lined the route for his last journey.
There was a poignant moment when the hearse, escorted by a guard-of-honour, paused outside John B. Keane's pub, where the playwright, novelist and poet had played host to locals and international visitors over the decades. He had done his writing in an upstairs room, sometimes late into the night, casting an occasional observant eye on the rhythm of life in William Street.
It was in the pub that he had listened to the rich language of the people from the Stacks Mountains, who dropped in for a drink on their visits to the town on fair days and shopping expeditions in the 1950s and 60s. Part of his legacy is that their remarkable way of life has been chronicled in his considerable output over five decades.
Earlier, his son, Billy, had told the congregation at the Requiem Mass that the stop outside the pub was appropriate because his father never made a long journey without visiting a hostelry.
The hearse then moved on to the John B. Keane Road, named after the famous local son and referred to by his children as "Dad's road". Danny Hannon, of the Lartigue Theatre, a friend since childhood, noted in his graveside oration that John B. Keane's last resting place was near places dear to his heart. Nearby are the national school, St Michael's College, where he began his writing career, and the GAA pitch where, as he once told Danny Hannon, he had "repelled football invaders from Ballylongford and Moyvane who had dared to challenge the football hierarchy of Listowel".
The funeral was an occasion for saluting a popular local man as much as an international literary celebrity. Danny Hannon noted how John B. Keane was rooted in his home town.
"He epitomised Listowel. Who knows, maybe he invented it. This is the town he cherished above all others. He loved its people, he treasured the streets and laneways where he walked. He was at his most joyful whenever the town was dressed in festive regalia."
John B. Keane's art, he said, was not one to be contemplated at a distance. "It needs to be lived and loved at close quarters, because although much of what he wrote about was universal, its roots are deep in north Kerry. You will not stray too far from this place today before you encounter those whimsical Keane specialities: the lovesick farmer, the successful TD, the country postman and the Irish parish priest. And if you do, you should be glad that there was an Irish writer who laid it all down on the page for posterity."
John B. Keane would have appreciated the irony of the pomp of church and State which surrounded the removal of his remains to the church on Friday and his burial on Saturday. The man who had railed against the State's policy of compulsory Irish in the schools of the 1960s, and had been sometimes critical of the hierarchical church, while remaining deeply spiritual, had the President, Mrs McAleese; two former taoisigh, Mr Liam Cosgrave and Dr Garret Fitz-Gerald; the Minister for Health, Mr Martin; and the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Ms de Valera, representing the Government, as well as the Bishop of Kerry, Dr Bill Murphy, and 25 priests, at his funeral. Father Kieran O'Shea, parish priest of Knocknagoshel, and a lifelong friend, recalled how he had visited him a few days before he died. John B. Keane told him he had a short time to live and said simply: "My next appointment is with the Man Above." And, in an emotional farewell, Father O'Shea remarked: "Goodbye old pal, till we meet again."
At the cemetery, Danny Hannon's final farewell to his old friend was by way of a poem written by the late Ray McAnally, whose powerful portrayal of the Bull McCabe in The Field won many plaudits, to mark John B. Keane's 50th birthday 23 years ago.
Some of the lines read:
Has he bugged the brains of Paradise?
Has he tapped the angel's phone?
Has God the Father special gifts
For John B. Keane alone?
