Dixies darling takes his final bow

IN THE heyday of the Dixies, Brendan O’Brien was used to stopping traffic.

Prodigiously talented and ridiculously good-looking, the showband’s lead singer and rhythm guitarist wowed his fans from Cork to Las Vegas during the 1960s and early 1970s.

He did it again yesterday during and after his funeral mass at St Patrick’s Church on the Lower Glanmire Road where hundreds of fans, friends and well-wishers joined his family to pay their respects to one of the greats of the showband era.

As the cortege made a graceful departure from the church, lunchtime traffic came to a standstill to allow his fans, many in tears, wave a last fond farewell.

Earlier, with a blend of devilment and devotion, Joe Mac — one of the original Dixies — paid tribute to his fellow band member and long-time friend while Brendan O’Brien Jr spoke movingly of his famous father. Although never sombre, it was a solemn occasion and even the hardiest aging rocker couldn’t avoid a tear or two as Brendan’s two guitars were brought to the altar.

The singer’s daughter, Trish, sang a plaintive Ave Maria during the concelebrated requiem mass, proving that while Brendan has gone, his talent lives on.

Among the showband luminaries in the church was Brendan Bower, leader of the Dixies’ rivals, the Royal Showband. “I knew him since 1959,” said Bower. “That’s almost 50 years. He was a great showman and I loved him dearly. It is a very sad day, particularly coming so soon after the passing of Joe Dolan.”

Also there were Noel and Ted Moynihan; Declan Ryan of the Regal showband; Stephen Travers of the Miami Showband and Gina Dale Haze of the Champions — a fitting turn-out for what one fan described as “Brendan’s final gig”.

While Joe Mac and his band were there to bid a final farewell to their friend, they would not be overindulging afterwards as they had a gig to play at the Briar Rose bar in Douglas.

Brendan would have understood. As band member Noel Moynihan put it: “The show must go on.”

After the mass and flanked by Garda outriders, the singer’s coffin was borne from the church for burial in St Finbar’s cemetery in Douglas. Fans and friends clapped loudly as the cortege moved down the Lower Glanmire Road.

It wasn’t the first time that Brendan O’Brien departed the stage to the sound of thunderous applause.