Shirley Bassey send-off for murdered criminal Mark Desmond

The funeral has taken place in Dublin of the gangland figure Mark Desmond who was shot dead in Lucan on December 2nd.

He was mourned by approximately 50 relatives who brought his body to St Catherine of Alexandra Church on Meath Street in a glass case carriage which was drawn by two black horses, each with a white feather plume on its head.

About 30 other people also attended the funeral, some of them friends and associates but many appeared to be elderly residents of the area, there for the regular morning Mass.

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Mark Desmond seen at the time of his conviction for possession of three shotguns and a rifle with intent to endanger life between October 1999 and February 2000. The verdict was later quashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal. Photograph: Ronan Quinlan

Desmond, a 41-year old drug dealer and gangland enforcer renowned for the quality of violence that seemed to follow him, was remembered as a son to his parents, father of his own son, and adored uncle to several young nieces and nephews present, all of them emotionally distraught.

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His coffin lay before the altar. On top was an elongated wreath of red and white flowers spelling out the word “splending” – a made-up word, a favourite of Desmond’s invented to communicate, apparently, a good time.

The bonds of family, friendship and shared time bound people together but those were now broken, Fr Richie Goode told the gathering.

Music – Amazing Grace, Be Not Afraid, and As I Kneel Before You – was performed by soloist Lorraine Maguire accompanied by harpist Mary O'Donnell.

Three young girls, family members, sang a contemporary song, Dancing In The Sky, and were rewarded by the congregation with a round of applause.

Desmond was believed to have killed two young men, one of whom he also allegedly raped, in January 2000, dumping their bodies, bullets to their heads, in the Grand Canal.

He was chief suspect for another gangland murder in 2002 and gardaí reckon he was behind another killing in October 2010.

As the heavens opened and rain drenched Meath Street, Desmond’s body was taken from the church and placed back in the glass case horse drawn hearse and, followed by three long funeral limos and a garda escort, driven to Lucan to be interred.

There was no church eulogy.

What would anyone have said?

The final tribute was left to Shirley Bassey, with her signature number, Big Spender, played to the congregation.

The minute you walked in the joint I could see you were a man of distinction A real big spender Good lookin’ so refined Say, wouldn’t you like to know what’s goin’ on in my mind?