‘All I can say is thanks, Tom. Thanks, Big Fella’

IT BEGAN with a lone piper leading his coffin into the church – and ended with his fans jiving in the graveyard. For although there was clearly huge sadness at the death of Big Tom McBride, there was an unmistakable air of celebration yesterday at his funeral in the small village of Oram, just outside Castleblayney in Co. Monaghan. This was where he was born and raised and where he lived with his four children and his beloved wife Rose. There were tears, but there was also laughter and, of course, a lot of music.

Several thousand people travelled to St Patrick’s Church to pay their respects and share their stories from the years they spent following Big Tom and The Mainliners at gigs around the country.

‘I was 17 years old the first time I saw him play the ballroom in Navan,’ Patricia Courtney from Julianstown, Co. Meath, told the Irish Daily Mail. ‘And I followed him for the next 47 years. He made everyone feel so special.’

In the warm spring sunshine, mourners listened to local priest Fr Leo Creelman as he welcomed everyone to the Funeral Mass

The symbols of his life included an Oram GAA flag to represent his successful playing career with the local club. ‘You know that’s how his got his nickname,’ one local GAA player told the Daily Mail.

‘It was because he was so big and tall in the midfield; it came long before the music.’

In his homily, Fr Creelman reminded people that Tom’s wife of 52 years, Rose, was buried earlier this year at the same church. ‘He was lost, dazed and brokenhearted,’ the priest said.

When Mass was over, it was time to carry Big Tom to his final resting place, a short walk to the grave where his wife was already resting. Their long-time neighbour Jim O’Neill gave an emotional oration at their graveside. ‘All I can say is thanks, Tom. Thanks, Big Fella,’ he said.

He later passed the microphone on – and the music began.