Delivering a eulogy at the beginning of his mother’s funeral Mass this week, international soccer star Roy Keane spoke lovingly of his parents and his Catholic upbringing in Ireland.
After his mother died, he paid tribute on Instagram to her, writing under a photograph of them together: “You’ll always be the boss.”
The Requiem Mass for Marie Keane took place in the Church of the Resurrection in Farranree, Cork City, the same church where she and her late husband, Mossie, were married in 1963. He died in 2019. Their wedding photograph was placed on her coffin during the Mass.
In his eulogy, Keane said: “From a selfish point of view, we weren’t ready for my mam to go yet. Today, we feel like the heart has been ripped out of our chest. Our mam would not want us to make a fuss today.”
He continued: “Our mam played so many different roles in our lives. She was a wife, mother, sister, daughter, mother-in-law, and grandmother. She was pretty cool at all of them. We can take comfort in knowing she was so deeply loved. We mourn her, but we have to celebrate her life as well. Ultimately, our mam and dad were at their happiest when they were together. And they are together. God bless, mam — and thanks for everything you did for us.”
Marie Keane passed away peacefully in the presence of her family at Marymount Hospice in Cork after suffering a long illness.
Roy Keane, who captained Manchester United during their most successful era and played for Ireland at the 1994 World Cup in the United States, is one of Ireland’s most famous sportsmen. He grew up in Cork City. After a period managing and coaching at club and international level, he is now a soccer pundit on television.
In his autobiography, Keane talked about his faith. “Sometimes I don’t know what’s best for myself, and that’s why I’ve got great faith; the man upstairs looks after me. I just have to trust him a bit more.”
Notoriously private, Keane previously said in an interview that he attended Mass most Sundays. “I have to drag the kids along sometimes, but they are all very well-grounded because that is what my life is,” he said.
In his address, he looked back on the parenting skills of his late mother and father with great affection: “Our mam didn’t always [give] what we wanted but always gave us what we needed. She was pretty strict with us, and if we were up to no good, she had an amazing skill of throwing a shoe, and no matter where we were in the house, she would always hit the target.”
Recalling a happy childhood growing up with his parents, Keane said: “Summer holidays to Garretstown were always special. In the evening, we would get a bag of chips. We thought life was great, just so simple. They would both be in great form. It was like going to Australia. We would also enjoy trips up to Dublin to the All-Ireland back in the days when Cork used to win. The only disappointment was our dad telling us once we got up to Dublin that we had no tickets for the match. But you can’t have everything.”
Thanking the wider family circle for their care, Keane said: “I have never known a closer family. Your help and support over the last couple of years has been a great example to us all. We will never be able to thank you enough. The turnout today has not surprised us. Our mam always looked out for other people. Not only was she kind and caring, but she had a good sense of humor, right up until the end.”
Father Sean O’Sullivan, who celebrated the Requiem Mass, told mourners that Marie Keane was everything to her family. She cherished them “not for anything they had done or achieved” but simply for who they were.
“While our hearts expand to love others as we grow, there is a place in our hearts that forever belongs to our mother. That is what makes them so special. It also makes it hard to lose them,” O’Sullivan said.
Keane’s praise for his family, faith, and upbringing follows the Oscars ceremony in Hollywood last month where his fellow Irish star, Best Actress winner Jessie Buckley, paid a warm tribute to her parents and the beauty of motherhood in her acceptance speech.
