The people of Finglas turned out in their thousands not to bury Christy Dignam, but to sing him to his rest.
They lined the streets of north Dublin from his home near Cardiffsbridge Road to Farnham Drive, where a big screen was set up and organisers played a montage of video and photographic images from his extraordinary life.
The rain began to fall as the hearse turned the corner into Farnham Drive. As it passed along, fans released red and blue balloons and threw red roses on to the front windscreen.
The music from the tannoy system faded and the cheers grew louder as the hearse stopped outside the Erin’s Isle GAA ground and the Dignam family got out.
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His widow Kathyrn and daughter Kiera, son-in-law Darren and Dignam’s three grandchildren were embraced by the crowd and lingered even while the rain got steadily heavier. As they exchanged warm words with well-wishers, those present spontaneously began singing “We love you Christy, we do, oh Christy we love you”.
The family then paused in front of the big screen on which a video tribute to Dignam was played from Ryan Tubridy. Dignam’s frequent appearances on the Late Late Show added to his lustre as a national treasure.
“Every time Christy came through a radio or TV studio you knew something special was going to happen. He had a great love of Ireland, a great love of family, a great love of Finglas,” Tubridy said.
“He knew who he was and why he was here. Do you know what a privilege it was for me to sit beside him or Finbar Furey or Imelda May or with Aslan doing what he does best, which is singing.”
“The people of Ireland had taken Dignam to their hearts,” Tubridy continued. “He’s one of ours. We are going to miss him. That was the wind in his sails as he headed off to the next place.”
After a minute’s silence the tannoy played Aslan’s two great anthems, This Is and Crazy World, songs that were as much about Dignam’s personal struggles as they were about the people around him. The crowd joined in.
Karen Creedon and her friend Michelle Flynn left Cork at 5am to attend the funeral. “We have been going to his concerts for 35 years. We came up to show our respects to Christy. If there had been a gig we would have attended, so here we are.”
Dignam was an authentic working-class hero, and people identified as much with his personal struggles against addiction and cancer as they did with his music.
Locals, who knew him best, were overwhelmed with grief. Singer and busker Mick McLoughlin was inspired by him and became his friend. Mick embraced Dignam’s widow. “It was so special for me for Christy’s wife to acknowledge that I was there. I bumped into him [Dignam] at Beaumont a few months ago. I had got the all-clear from the big C and he couldn’t have been happier for me.
“Christy Dignam is the reason I’m a singer today. The Finglas people, the Dublin people, the Aslan/Christy Dignam fans did him justice. It was beautiful to hear them singing and then the minute’s silence. It was a beautiful tribute to a beautiful man.” There was a round of applause as the hearse moved off for a private funeral service.
U2 singer Bono said Dignam’s death has led him to pause and reflect on the depth of the talent of a front man who “kind of had everything”.
In an interview with the Brendan O’Connor Show, on RTE Radio 1, Bono said that he had spent time listening to songs by Aslan and reflecting on their immense skill set as musicians. He has also been rejoicing in the “extraordinariness” of their singer.
“It [Dignam’s death] is quite a moment. It is more than sad. I have just been listening to Aslan as everyone else as. He [Christy] kind of had everything, which was really annoying. This beautiful man with this devilish laugh and smile and then he sang like an angel and wrote these lyrics ... these incredible lyrics. I mean, I don’t know if we knew ... I don’t know if I knew what we had with this extraordinary man and this great band.”
Bono admitted to being “overwhelmed” by the power and beauty of the voice of the late 63-year-old, who died on Tuesday following a long illness.
“I suppose a singer always knows when you are in a room with somebody who can out-sing you. The operatic [nature] of his voice, I suppose. And as well as living around the corner from Aslan .... I first met Billy McGuinness [of Aslan] on Cedarwood Road. But you know we were close in other ways.
His [Christy’s] father loved opera and my father loved opera. That is where he got this from I think. This ability to move so comfortably through the octaves. So just as a singer I have just been overwhelmed by his voice over the last few days.”
