Goodnight and God bless: Thousands tune in for Gaybo’s last broadcast
Thousands of mourners and well-wishers lined the streets of the captial today as the late, great Gay Byrne made his emotional final journey.
A steady stream of people began to gather at Dublin’s Pro Cathedral from early this morning for the funeral of the broadcaster, who died on Monday after a long illness. He was 85.
Fr Leonard Maloney told the congregation they were mourning the passing of an extraordinary man.
He said: “For as long as most of us can remember, Gay was a remarkable presence in Irish life — a consummate broadcaster and a veritable choirmaster of the national conversation.”
Fr Maloney said Mr Byrne’s greatness lay in the intimacy of his family life, with his wife Kathleen, his children Crona and Suzy, his sons-in-law Philip and Ronan, his beloved grandchildren Cian, Sadhbh, Kate, Saoirse and Harry, and his sister Mary; and then in the richness of his life as a friend and a colleague.
He added: “It is right and fitting that such a great number would mourn his passing.”
Mourners included President Michael D Higgins, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Riverdance composers Moya Doherty and John McColgan, along with many well known broadcasters and former RTÉ colleagues, including Joe Duffy and Marty Whelan.
