09/12/2023
As A celebrant, Minister, Officiator, Funeral Director this funeral has touched me for many reasons.
As a black female funeral operative, I am passionate about funeral ceremonies (a) that we enhance the life of the deceased. Attendees should leave a funeral ceremony knowing more about the deceased in their death than they did in life and
(b) Representation. They took Shane McGowan ‘home’ to his people, to his family to familiar surroundings. There was a commonality amongst them, an association of people who had an understanding and were together. It was visible that hearts were moved.
I’m often asked ‘Why black funeral directors/ministers, are we not all the same?’ NO we are not. You might be able to give a great ceremony and the families be extremely happy; but there is no comparison to using people who ‘know, identify’ and at times ‘look’ like you.
Yesterday we had a ‘Drummer’ for our funeral. There is something about the drumbeat that reasonates with the black community. It beats to the very core of your soul, we identify with drums. Similar to ‘Long Lost Families’ when the drum beats, there is a ‘reconciliation’ in death; it calls us home.
Shane McGowan was reconciled with Tipperary and his ceremony was politically, musically, culturally and traditionally a representation of who he was.
Bronze Ash Funerals kind of ceremony
https://youtu.be/RaJmQ-R5wZo
I don’t own the rights to this music. Facebook do as you please
Hundreds of mourners lined the streets of Dublin during the funeral procession of Shane MacGowan before his funeral in County Tipperary. The Pogues frontman...
