That brings to a close our coverage of Shane MacGowan's funeral. It began in Dublin, where he lived, and ended in Tipperary, where his mother came from.

MacGowan, described as a poet, lyricist, singer and trailblazer during his funeral Mass, would have celebrated his 66th birthday on Christmas Day.

We'll leave you with some of the powerful images of the day.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Additional reporting by Matt Fox and Amy Stewart in Belfast, Thomas Mackintosh and Jamie Whitehead in London and Ciarán McCauley in Dublin.

Thank you for joining us.

The service has come to an end and Shane MacGowan's remains will now be cremated following a private ceremony.

His coffin is being carried out of the chapel to a swell of applause by a group of men including Johnny Depp.

Image source, The Pogues

Image source, The Pogues

Image source, The Pogues

Former members of The Pogues - Jem Finer, Terry Woods, Spider Stacey and James Fearnley - are playing one of the final songs of the service.

It is a traditional Scottish song, often sung in Ireland, called The Parting Glass and is frequently sung at the end of a gathering of friends.

Image source, The Pogues

The band finishes playing to a large round of applause with Fr Gilbert exclaiming: "I think I've died and gone to heaven - The Pogues!"

MacGowan's sister Siobhan and his widow Victoria Mary Clarke danced along to The Pogue's Fairytale of New York during his funeral Mass.

"One of our favourite things to do was listen to Astral Weeks, music could take us places that were so heavenly," Victoria recalls.

"He was intensely religous.

"He prayed every single day and was grateful for the gift of life.

"His devotion was beautiful... and he wouldn't see the bad in anybody.

"Towards the end he just told everybody how much he loved them."

Victoria ended her eulogy with an appeal.

"He was a genius, a beautiful soul and made a massive contribution.

"Next time you see someone and think they're just an alcoholic or drug addict, stop.

"Just consider giving a bit of compassion and respect.

"That would be my final message."

The last person to speak today is Victoria, Shane's widow.

"Everyone who knew Shane knew how much he hated funerals, it was very hard to get him to go to one," she tells the congregation.

"He didn't like the idea of death, he didn't like to talk about his own death."

She says his death was a surprise and that despite people warning her about his drinking, "he always assured me he'd live till at least 80".

Image source, The Pogues

Siobhan says her brother's veins "ran with Irish blood".

"It was in Tipperary, our mother's childhood home, that Shane, reunited with the land he loved, found his spiritual home," she says.

She says he absorbed "the magical mayhem" of Ireland and - along with the musical talents of his mother and literature leanings of his father - it was the greatest influence on his life.

MacGowan's younger sister, author Siobhan MacGowan, is delivering the first eulogy.

She says her brother would have enjoyed the service.

"That's some send off for my brother, so thank you."

She thanks Irish President Michael D Higgins for attending the service.

She says it's lovely to see everyone attending the Mass, at the church where their late mother went to. She goes on to thank those that have participated in the service.

Image source, The Pogues

Siobhan gives a special mention to Glen Hansard for organising the musicians.

Speaking of MacGowan's time in hospital, she says there was "never a dull moment" and he rarely spent it alone because he had so many visitors.

She thanks hospital staff for their loving care as Shane "held court" with his exacting tea demands.

"We are eternally grateful to you," she says.

Siobhan reflects on her brother's life as they grew up in England, noting his appetite for literature and his precocious nature.

Next up is that song which The Pogues are most famous for - Fairytale of New York.

It is being sung by Irish singer-songwriters and musicians Glen Hansard and Lisa O'Neill.

The song, released in 1987, has long been a staple of the festive period and Shane MacGowan considers it a tribute to Kirsty MacColl whom he performed the duet with.

MacColl died in 2000 in Mexico.

Many of the congregation in the church are standing and swaying in tribute. Family members are dancing in the aisles.

Image source, The Pogues

Image source, The Pogues

Image source, The Pogues

Mark Savage
BBC Music correspondent

I think Shane MacGowan will be remembered as one of the great voices of the Irish people.

He spoke about experiences in such an evocative way, particularly for Irish immigrants in England and America, and the experiences they had of being down-and-out or "on the skids", having to scrape a living and doing so with a sense of joy but also by drowning your sorrows in drink.

There is such humanity in all of his music and I think that's sometimes overshadowed by the lifestyle he led. People talked about his teeth and about the gigs that he missed.

But in those first three albums he did with The Pogues, when he was on it and he hadn't completely succumbed to his demons, there is just real warmth, compassion and humanity, and I think that will be remembered in 50 or 100 years time.

Ian Youngs
Entertainment and Arts Reporter, BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

MacGowan's widow Victoria Mary Clarke has said his bittersweet festive classic Fairytale of New York "absolutely should" be the UK's Christmas number one, and it's expected to shoot up the chart when the new rundown is revealed later.

The duet with Kirsty MacColl was at number 18 last week, and in this week's midweek chart update had risen to number three.

It's currently behind two more seasonal hits, Wham!'s Last Christmas and Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You, which will both be formidable competition for the number one spot.

Fairytale of New York has never topped the UK chart - it was kept off the Christmas top spot when it was released in 1987 by the Pet Shop Boys' Always On My Mind, not a remotely festive tune.

This week's chart will be revealed on BBC Radio 1 from 16:00-17:45 GMT, with the Christmas number one announced in two weeks.

Actor Johnny Depp says one of the Prayers of the Faithful, focussing on peace, love and forgiveness.

The Pogues' original bassist Cait O'Riordan is joined by folk singer John Francis Flynn to perform I'm a Man You Don't Meet Every Day, a traditional song she sang on The Pogues' second album, Rum, Sodomy and The Lash.

She asks the church to sing with her "if you know it", which some of the guests do. The performance captures MacGowan's respect for traditional music.

O'Riordan played bass on The Pogues' first two records, before leaving in 1986.

Image source, The Pogues

Shane MacGowan's funeral is taking place on what would have been Sinéad O'Connor's 57th birthday, something Fr Gilbert alluded to during his homily.

He also notes that Shane was "born on the birthday of Jesus", and died on the same days as Irish literary greats Oscar Wilde and Patrick Kavanagh.

Image source, PA Media

Next up we have the Prayers of The Faithful due to be read out by the following:

• Peace, Love & Forgiveness by Johnny Depp
• Drs & Nurses by Sarah Leahy
• Homeless by Jess Ryan
• People Suffering Addiction by Zakiti Dlamini
• The Natural World by Orla Clarke
• Immigrants & The Displaced by Liam Ó Maonlaí
• Poverty & Hunger by Sir Bob Geldof

Fr Gilbert continues his homily by describing MacGowan as "our modern-day-bard".

"The social commentator, the songsmith, the son, the brother, husband and friend."

He pays homage to Shane's widow, Victoria, saying: "I know that he adored you, and you him."

The priest says Victoria "carried, cared and caressed him, right to the very end".

"And I am also aware of the strong bonds of love and affection that knit you together as a family Maurice, Siobhan and Anthony," Fr Gilbert says.

Mark Savage
BBC Music correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Shane MacGowan’s music is the thread that binds this funeral service. Connecting the prayers and eulogies are some of his most beloved lyrics and melodies - many of which he’d previously requested at his 60th birthday party in Dublin five years ago.

Nick Cave played A Rainy Night In Soho, a beautiful ode to friends lost but not forgotten. Mundy and Camille O’Sullivan sang Haunted - a duet MacGowan originally recorded with Sinead O’Connor, another Irish musical rebel we sadly lost this year.

Most poignantly of all, Pogues musician Cait O’Riordan and contemporary Irish folk musician John Francis Flynn, will dedicate I'm a Man You Don’t Meet Every Day to MacGowan.

Although it wasn’t an autobiographical song, the lyrics about a “roving young fellow” who says “be easy and free when you’re drinking with me” couldn’t be more appropriate.

Bono, Bob Geldof Imelda May and Declan O’Rourke are also taking part in the service - an indication of how much Irish music owes to MacGowan, and what a vital life force we have lost.

Shane MacGowan expressed himself "in the raw life of living", Fr Gilbert continues.

"He connected the cultural, the sociological, the spiritual, the physical and the metaphysical into a coherent translation of what was happening all around us," he says.

Fr Gilbert says, as a teenager, The Pogues music was an outlet, "a conduit in the music" and a "lyric of the day".

He says the music and lyrics were "tremendous", with Shane MacGowan "the master of them all".

"As Brendan Behan did in prose, Shane McGowan did in poetry."

Image source, The Pogues

Fr Pat Gilbert has begun his homily for the funeral Mass by telling mourners he grew up listening to the music of Thin Lizzy, Horslips, The Boomtown Rats, and, of course, The Pogues ( to cheers in the church).

He says as a teenager the music alerted him to what was happening around him.

"There was also the pride of being Irish, what they could say, sing and share was right and reasoned as far as we were concerned," he says.

"In fact, Shane and the Pogues made it international and cool to play the tin whistle, banjo or accordion."

Image source, The Pogues