An Irish star dies..
IrishBands
died of liver failure. He was 47. In his life he sold 16,000,000 albums
and was the first Irish rock star. Much of the music industry in Ireland
has a lot to thank the man for. May he rest in peace..
Mary Comber
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By Barry Roche, in Cork
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VAN MORRISON and ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore are among the leading
figures from the world of rock and blues expected in Cork today for the
funeral of leading blues guitarist, Rory Gallagher.
Speculation remains regarding who else may attend but already expressions of
sympathy have been received from Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, John Mayall, folk
singer Martin Carty and American rockers Bon Jovi.
All over the weekend, Gallagher fans and friends came out in their thousands
to pay their respects to the guitarist, who died of liver failure in a
London hospital on Wednesday, aged 46.
From early Saturday morning, a steady flow of fans made their way to
O'Connor's Funeral Home at Temple Hill, filing past the open casket where
Gallagher lay.
In the afternoon, several thousand people lined the streets of Cork to pay
their own private tribute, with hundreds breaking into spontaneous applause
as the funeral cortege turned the corner from the Grand Parade into
Washington Street.
There was a poignant scene at the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit
when undertaker Willie O'Connor removed Gallagher's favourite Fender
Stratocaster guitar from the coffin and handed it to his roadie of 20 years,
Tom O'Driscoll from Schull, Co Cork.
Chief among the mourners were Gallagher's mother Monica, his brother Donal
and sister-in-law Cecilia, and his nephews Eoin (14) Daniel (11) and Hugh
(6) as well as many friends from the Cork music scene of the 1960s.
``Rory was a quiet, gentle guy and quite shy and reserved off stage but the
minute he went on stage he came alive and had a charisma all his own,''
recalled Norman Damery, who co-founded Taste with Gallagher back in the
mid-1960s.
Thousands of fans are expected to attend today's funeral at 2.30 p.m. at St
Oliver's Cemetery, Model Farm Road.
Gallagher's harmonica player, Mark Feltham - who played some blues for him
in his hospital room the day before he died - will play at today's Requiem
Mass, while Ronnie Drew of The Dubliners will read one of the lessons.
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Sean Smith
>
> All over the weekend, Gallagher fans and friends came out in their thousands
> to pay their respects to the guitarist, who died of liver failure in a
> London hospital on Wednesday, aged 46.
>
Mickey Mantle, was hospitalized recently with severe liver problems and
given 72 hours to live unless he received a transplant, which he did. Mantle's
condition was not particularly surprising, since he had been drinking heavily
for many years.
What were the circumstances surrounding Gallagher's liver failure? Was it so
sudden they were unable to find a transplant in time?
Sean Smith
smt...@bcvms.bc.edu
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Summer livin'
and the time is easy
Cotton's jumpin'
and the fish are high.
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