Many hundreds of mourners thronged St Joseph’s Church, Glasthule, in south Dublin, today for the funeral Mass of Aengus Fanning, editor of the Sunday Independent who died last Tuesday, aged 69.
In a service that celebrated Mr Fanning's twin passions, cricket and music, with honourable mentions for GAA, journalism and history, Noirin Ni Riain led the liturgical singing while a mellow jazz band played some of his favourite pieces, accompanied at one point by Mr Fanning's son, Stephen, singing Abilene.
As the Offertory gifts were presented gifts - the colours of his old GAA club, Austin Stack's and a tin whistle - the jazz singer, Mary Coughlan, led the band in a soft rendition of Closer Now my Lord to Thee.
His wife Anne Harris spoke of his early talent as a Kerry county minor player, as an accomplished clarinettist, as someone “who chose the artist’s way”, who tried acting, and dreamed of Lord’s cricket ground and the dazzling musicians of 1930s Chicago.
“He lived a life red in tooth and claw… He was ever alert to conventional wisdom in order to slap it down. Aengus’s boredom threshold has been much commented upon and much misunderstood. He hated what he called the 'bleedin’ obvious' and loved anything original, no matter how tiny or simple…”
His core belief, his only belief, she said, "was Kant’s 'out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing is ever made'."
"The crooked timber haunted him. It led him to be a student of history, increasingly in recent decades… The lessons of history had to be learned so as not to be repeated."
He died at his post because he loved it, she said, concluding with a poem about his beloved cricket, At Lord's by Francis Thompson, her voice faltering only towards the end.
His sons Evan and Dion also gave wistful, loving, sometimes funny eulogies. Dion noted that so many stories about his father seemed to begin at the same point: "Dad’s inability to understand that the accepted procedures in a situation might have to apply to him… From Kosovo to Ethiopia to parking meters in Blackrock, all had the same beginning,"
President Michael D Higgins was represented by his aide de camp, Col Michael McMahon, and Taoiseach Enda Kenny was represented by Commdt Michael Treacy.
Also in attendance were the Fianna Fáil leader, Micheal Martin, former cabinet minister, Mary O’Rourke, Lt Gen Sean McCann, chief of staff of the Defence Forces and former chief justice Ronan Keane.
Among the numerous representatives of the board, commercial and editorial staff and contributors. past and present, of Independent News & Media, were Gavin O’Reilly, Vincent Crowley, Declan Carlyle, Michael Denieffe, Willie Kealy, Gerry O’Regan, Senator Shane Ross, Kevin Myers, Eoghan Harris, Colm McCarthy, Prof John Crown, Brendan O’Connor, Madeleine Keane, Leo Blennerhassett, Ulick O’Connor and Emer O’Kelly.
Also present were the editor of the Irish Examiner, Tim Vaughan, the head of corporate communications at RTE, Kevin Dawson; managing editor of The Irish Times, Willy Clingan; Geoff Oakley, the former editor of the Tullamore Tribune who worked with Mr Fanning on the Midland Tribune, Seamus Dooley, Irish Secretary of the NUJ and Martin Fitzpatrick, chair of the Dublin branch; Daithi O'Ceallaigh of the Press Council of Ireland, Frank Cullen of National Newspapers of Ireland, John O'Shea of Goal, Gay Byrne, John Rocha, Michael Colgan, Alison Doody and Eddie Hobbs.
